by Hannah Ford
“I just spent four or five months of a perfectly good salary on my wardrobe, buying a bunch of things I don’t really need.”
He chuckled. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
“If my parents knew—“
“If your parents knew about my basement, they’d be upset too. They’d probably be upset if they knew that you had a cup of extra strong coffee this morning.”
She glared at him. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said, smirking ever wider, “that it’s your parents’ job to disapprove of things you do. And it’s your job to do them anyway, because you’re a unique individual who’s an adult now and can make her own decisions.”
“Do your parents disapprove of what you do?” she asked.
His smile disappeared and he just stared for a moment. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he said.
She knew it was against the contract to ask him personal questions or to delve into his psychology, but she still felt hurt by his refusal to tell her almost anything about his life or his past. “Sorry,” she said, trying to appear convincing.
He brushed it off. “Anyway, let’s see how those fancy new clothes look on you, Kallie.” Hunter continued to lie on the bed with his fingers interlaced behind his head, watching her smugly.
“What do you mean? You want me to do a fashion show or something?”
“Yes. I want you to put on those clothes we bought today—I want to see them on you.”
Kallie was standing in the midst of the shopping bags and feeling like the world’s biggest fool. Here she had thought she was putting him to the test by purchasing more than he would be comfortable paying for, and he’d turned it around and put her to the test.
“You want me to put on a fashion show for you? In your bedroom?”
“That’s right. And I’m not very patient. Let’s get this show on the road, Kallie.”
“Fine,” she sighed, picking up the shopping bag with the dress from Michael Kors and the Victoria Secret bag too. She started to the bathroom.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She stopped in her tracks. “To the bathroom, to change. I thought—“
“You thought wrong.” Hunter was sitting up now.
Kallie stood awkwardly holding her shopping bags. “But I need to change.”
“I don’t want anything to happen behind closed doors. I need you to be completely naked before me.”
Her pulse was suddenly racing. The idea of changing in front of Hunter was terrifying, mortifying, but it was also somehow exciting her in a way that she couldn’t even fathom. She was simultaneously dreading taking her clothes off in front of him, while also getting turned on by the thought of it. Knowing that Hunter would be watching her closely, that he might be getting hard while he stared at all that exposed, vulnerable flesh…
“Okay,” Kallie replied softly, dropping the bags. She was on display and feeling very much on stage.
Hunter sat like a king on his throne, comfortably watching her as she tried to please him, despite her misgivings.
She took off her heels and then reached down and pulled her dress off in one sweeping motion.
“That’s very good,” he told her. “Now take off your bra and panties.”
She hesitated, feeling a tremble through her extremities. This was so intimate, and she felt too vulnerable. Making matters worse, she was getting uncomfortably wet down there. She was practically dripping.
Hunter had turned her into Pavlov’s dog, only instead of salivating at the sound of a bell, she was getting wet at the sound of his voice. It made her wonder if all of this was part of some grand scheme he’d concocted—that perhaps his intentions really were devious and malicious at the bottom of it all.
“Kallie,” he said, his voice loud in the room. She snapped out of her thoughts.
“Yes?”
“Panties and bra. Off.” He pulled his knee up and wrapped his hands around it, looking like a model reclining on a bed for a photo shoot.
Maybe I should just count myself lucky that he doesn’t bring out a camera and start taking pictures of me, she thought.
Kallie did as Hunter ordered, slowly unsnapping her bra and pulling it off one shoulder and then the next. She let it fall to the floor. Next, she slid the panties down her legs, stepping out of them and holding her hands over her privates.
“No, don’t cover up. I want to see everything.” His dark eyes were burning, focused intently on her.
She dropped her hands to her sides, her breast heaving. She was dizzy with anxiety, but also with excitement. Every time Hunter so much as glanced at her, she could hardly stand it. His eyes were so mysterious, but also so knowledgeable. She sensed—she believed—in her heart, that he understood her better than anyone else she’d ever met.
Kallie’s entire life, when she thought about it now, seemed as though she’d floated through it without truly being known by a single other person. Yet here she was, being known by this strange man. It didn’t make a bit of sense except that for some reason, it was true.
“Kallie,” he said. “Look at me.”
Her gaze had dropped to the floor due to her embarrassment and intense feelings that she couldn’t bear for him to see. But now he was making her shed yet another piece of armor. Slowly, slowly, she forced herself to look at him.
He was watching her intently, as always. His dark eyes appeared magnified in the room. But when she let herself be seen by him, and saw him back in turn—Kallie found that it wasn’t really as bad as she’d thought it might be.
In fact, she felt more comfortable almost instantly. His eyes were caring, she thought. There was no way for him to hide his true feelings when she really saw into his eyes, and despite his intense and secretive demeanor, she knew that he cared more than ever.
He smiled and she smiled back.
“Now put on the new bra and panties I bought for you,” he said.
She bent down and rummaged through the bag, finding a pair of black lacy v-string panties and matching bra. She was aware that as she searched in the bag, Hunter was getting a clear view of her from behind.
Kallie told herself to pretend she was just getting dressed as she would on any other day, without someone else in the room. She wasn’t going to get flustered and rush, but simply put on her things.
This thought relaxed her substantially, and so she found what she needed and then put on the panties first and then the bra. Everything fit quite snugly. She liked how it felt on her, sexy and adult and purposeful. Kallie had never purchased clothing with any intent of getting a man hot and bothered, but when she’d picked out these items, she had to admit that the desire to please Hunter had played a role in her decisions.
As she adjusted her bra strap, Hunter was nodding and smiling. “That’s an incredibly sexy look,” he said. “I like when you embrace your sexuality, Kallie.”
“Me too,” she said, laughing lightly.
“Don’t be ashamed of your sex appeal. You should let it show—you should own it,” he told her.
“Okay, duly noted.” She was flustered again. He was always finding a new way to make her self-conscious, and just when she’d started to feel centered again, Hunter would find a new way to knock her off balance.
“Put on the dress, now,” he commanded.
“Yes, sir.” She meant it sarcastically, but Hunter nodded approvingly.
“That’s the spirit. I want to see how your ass looks in that dress.”
She licked her lips, stunned by his brazen comments, even though she should have been used to them by now. Kallie bent down once more, opening the Michael Kors bag and taking out the floral print dress. It was simple but elegant, mostly white with black floral outlines and some light brownish coloring, a scooped neck that didn’t show too much cleavage (and thus would nicely hide her new necklace).
Kallie put the dress on and Hunter watched her every move, his eyes never once straying from her. I
t was amazing, she thought, how he never seemed distracted when they were together. He didn’t constantly check his phone like so many men did nowadays. He wasn’t constantly emailing or texting or taking a call from someone.
She knew he was busy in his work life, and clearly very successful. Yet when they were together, it was as if nothing in the world existed but her.
Kallie had to admit, that was an incredibly sexy quality that Hunter possessed. She loved that he never took his eyes off her for even a moment. At the same time, it also made her deeply uncomfortable and nervous, because she didn’t know how well she’d hold up under the scrutiny.
“I love it,” Hunter said, admiring her in the new dress. “Put on those shoes we bought.”
Kallie knelt down and rummaged through yet another bag. She came out with the black Prada jeweled patent pumps. Once Kallie stepped into the pumps, the outfit was complete. She stood before him, holding out her arms and striking a pose, laughing at herself.
“Don’t make a joke of it,” Hunter warned, his eyes hardening.
“I’m sorry, I just feel like a goof.”
“Why?” he asked, cocking his head slightly.
“I don’t know. I mean, look at the two of us right now. Isn’t this silly?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe you just need to loosen up. You’re uptight, that’s what’s making you feel silly.”
“I’m the one getting naked and doing a fashion show, so maybe I have the right to feel silly,” she snapped.
Hunter’s eyes lit with something resembling anger. Or perhaps it was glee. “I don’t think I care for your tone.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, dropping her gaze, knowing she’d made a mistake talking back like that.
“Take off the clothes,” he commanded. “Everything. Right now.”
“Okay.” She started to undress.
“Faster,” he urged.
She quickly took off the shoes, the dress. He refused to let her put anything back in its bag. Hunter just kept telling her to take it all off.
Kallie was sweating again. Beads of it had gathered at her hairline and on her upper lip. Something was coming. She could feel it, and her privates somehow knew as well. She was very, very, embarrassingly wet.
Finally she was completely nude again.
“You must learn manners,” Hunter told her. “And you must learn to let go, to trust me, to see clearly that I have only your best interests at heart.”
“I do see that—“
“Shhh.” He put a finger to his lips and she fell silent.
Hunter got off the bed and moved to a stiff backed chair nearby. He sat down in the chair and folded his arms. “Touch yourself,” he said, out of nowhere.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” His eyes didn’t waver.
Kallie reached between her legs, surprised by the heat that was radiating from her like a furnace. She wanted him badly—wanted him to get up out of that chair and grab her, pick her up and toss her on the bed…
As she had the thought, Kallie began to slowly massage her own entrance, and as she did so, made eye contact with Hunter.
He leaned forward slightly in his chair, and his full lips parted expectantly. “Yes, Kallie. I want to see those fingers sliding up and down on your wet pussy.”
She gasped, as his words seemed to affect her much as his touch, caressing her body, warming her all over. She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, slowly pushing her two fingers past her folds. She was greeted by an explosion of wetness and moisture as Hunter’s voice continued to speak.
“I want to see your face when you come, Kallie. I don’t want you to hide anything from me. Open your eyes and look at me while you touch yourself.”
She did as he commanded. His voice was like a magnet, drawing her closer to him, wanting and needing his approval and attention. She would have done anything to feel his hands on her breasts, his lips on her lips, kissing down to her bare breasts, sucking…
She gasped as a new shudder of pleasure rippled through her.
“That’s it,” Hunter said. “You’re very, very wet now, Kallie. You want me inside you again. You want my cock to fuck your tight pussy, sliding in and out.”
She looked at him as he told her these things, and watching him say it made her that much wetter. “Shit,” she gasped. “I’m coming.”
He smiled slowly. “Show me. Come for me.”
And she did. She came, crying out as her hand rubbed and rubbed and she watched Hunter watching her. His dark eyes seemed to penetrate to the very depths of her, and he didn’t judge anything. He wanted her.
He wants me more than anyone he’s ever wanted.
She climaxed, her knees practically knocking together at the end. Her body was once again bathed in sweat, her muscles loose with fatigue. “I can’t keep doing this, I’ll be sleeping at dinner.”
“Hop in the shower, and then come out and get dressed again,” he said. “I’ll be downstairs.”
Hunter got up and left the room, and Kallie watched him go, wondering just what she’d gotten herself into with him.
***
The ride to the restaurant was nerve wracking. Hunter was more talkative than usual, seemingly as confident and relaxed as Kallie was nervous and anxious.
Kallie was wearing the same outfit she’d put on for Hunter earlier—black pumps, floral print dress, and her new bracelet. Of course, she also still was wearing the necklace Hunter had given her—although hidden, she took some strange kind of comfort in the weight of it against her chest.
Hunter was dapper in a black blazer and white button down shirt opened at the throat, and a pair of dark blue jeans. He smelled strong and masculine with his cologne, something new that she’d never smelled before.
This must be the guy who showed up on film sets and red carpets, she decided. He was still the same person she knew privately, and yet he was clearly more affable, lighthearted, softer with his comments and observations.
After a few minutes of talking about New York City and how his opinion of it had changed over the years (he seemed to feel it was smaller and less threatening than he had in his younger days), Hunter finally stopped and looked over at Kallie.
“You’ve barely said a word since we got in the car.”
She bit her lip and looked out the passenger window at the cars in the right lane. Absentmindedly, she wondered where all the people were headed. It was strange, she thought, how many people there were—all of them with hopes and dreams and problems—people with stories she’d never know.
“Kallie?” Hunter said. “Where are you?”
“Sorry,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’m just really nervous.”
“Why?”
“I haven’t told anyone you’re coming. It’s going to be a big shock.”
He smiled. “That should be fun.”
“I’ve got five brothers, Hunter. The oldest, Sean, is a hothead and he’s very protective of me.”
“I’m not afraid of your hothead brother, Kallie. Should I be?”
“Just please be nice to him.”
Hunter laughed, as if he couldn’t imagine why she even needed to say such a thing. “Of course I’ll be nice to your brother.”
“Even if he’s not very nice to you?”
Hunter gave her a sidelong glance. “Within reason. He can poke me with a stick a few times. But if he keeps poking….” Hunter shrugged, as if being poked with a stick enough times ameliorated him from any responsibility he might have in the situation.
“Please. I’m begging you, Hunter.”
“Okay, okay. I promise to be nice to your jerky brother.”
“He’s not jerky. He just doesn’t want anybody hurting me.”
“Well that makes two of us. We’re on the same team here.”
Kallie shook her head and sighed. “I can’t wait until this is over.”
“Now, on another note,” Hunter said, turning his head to check the right lane as he sw
itched smoothly into it. “I want to go over some things with you about tonight as well.”
“Oh, God.” She balled her hands into fists in anticipation of what was coming next.
“I’m going to play the role of the perfect boyfriend, as you’ve requested. I don’t have to do it, mind you. I’m doing it because I want to and because I’m serious about our relationship.”
“I didn’t ask you to come,” she protested.
He raised a hand, silencing her. “The point being, I have some needs for this evening, and you will meet those needs. You will do exactly as I instruct.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hunter.”
“Let me explain.” He took a moment, pumping the breaks as the traffic in front of them came to a sudden halt. “I may need to be serviced by you throughout the evening, and when I require your attentions, I will indicate that to you by way of a signal.”
“A signal?”
“Yes.” He nodded simply. “We’ll be sitting next to each other at dinner,” he said. “If I tap your kneecap three times with my finger, that means you are to immediately excuse yourself from the table and go wait for me outside the restaurant.”
Kallie was dumbstruck. “I can’t—“
He glanced at her and the look on his face was enough to send her back peddling. “You can’t?”
“What I meant,” she said, “is that my parents and brothers will be furious at us if we disappear from the table together like that. We’d be crazy to do it.”
“We will do it, and you will obey me,” he said, his voice stern. “You will listen to me, Kallie.”
She wanted to protest again. He didn’t know her family, didn’t understand how conservative they were.
But Kallie saw the look on Hunter’s face and kept quiet.
Soon they arrived at the restaurant. Kallie was growing increasingly nervous as they made their way inside, knowing that soon it would be the moment of truth.
How would her family react to her bringing this strange man along on such an important occasion? She knew she should have told them or warned them in advance, but it was such short notice that they would have been suspicious and annoyed no matter what excuse she gave.