Chapter Four — Callum
Damn. She looks even better than I was expecting, and my expectations were high to begin with. I think part of it is how flustered she looks — out of breath, hair sticking to her lip gloss, cheeks flushed. She’s nervous. Rushed.
I like seeing her off guard, and I love the way her eyes lit up when I complimented her. She can pretend as much as she wants that she doesn’t care about impressing me, but I know she does. They all do.
Still, even I have to admit she’s not like the others.
There’s something special about her. In fact, she’s so special that I haven’t even touched the remote control in my pocket yet.
Normally, I would have already made the girl come at least twice in the ride over.
That’s always been my go-to on the first punishment date.
I get them so horny that they’re begging to suck me off in the middle of dinner.
I tease them, make them wait, then take them home and fuck them senseless.
It’s usually at this point that they start to fall in love with me.
That’s when I know I have them, and that’s when I start slowly changing up on them — being meaner, seeing how much I can get away with until they break.
But I don’t want to do that yet with Alex. She’s like a precious flower, and I’m not ready to tear her out of the ground. Not yet.
Still, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t imagined her on my bed, legs quaking, breath shallow, those cheeks flushed.
I’m dying to turn on the remote control vibrator, but the anticipation is for her as much as it is for me.
I know she’s waiting — waiting for the moment when I’ll activate it — and that’s the best part.
I reach into my pocket a few times briefly while driving, then glance over at her.
She doesn’t react. That strikes me as odd.
All of the other girls were on edge at this point, watching every movement of mine, waiting to see what I would do.
But not her. Maybe she’s assuming I’m going to wait until we’re at the restaurant.
We drive there in silence, each of us waiting for the other to break. Neither of us does. We park and she undoes her seatbelt immediately. She places her hand on the car door, and I stare at her.
“Don’t you dare,” I say.
She leans back and waits for me to open the door for her.
“Good girl,” I say as I open her car door.
She frowns as if she’s annoyed, but I notice that micro-grin flash across her face for a split second.
She can try and hide it from me. In fact, most of the girls do.
They like to put on a bit of a feminist facade, pretending like they don’t like being called my good girl.
But they all love it. And they all crack eventually.
It’s just a matter of when.
I study Alex’s face closely as she navigates onto the ground from the car seat in those five-and-a-half-inch heels. One of her hands goes to tug the hem of her dress down while the other clamps onto mine tightly.
She’s off balance, and as her heel hits the gravel, her body tips. I’m there instantly, holding her upright. Her dress rides up, exposing her bare ass for a split second. I hold her firmly and she quickly arranges her dress, pulling it down.
I don’t linger. I don’t need to. I’ll see her naked body soon enough. Still, it was a nice little preview. When she looks up at me, her entire face is beet red.
She glares at me.
“You should be thanking me for saving you,” I say. “You almost just wiped out in the parking lot.”
“And whose fault would that have been?” she asks.
“Yours.”
She scoffs. “Excuse me? I wouldn’t have lost my balance if I wasn’t forced to wear five-and-a-half-inch heels.”
“Listen, sweetheart,” I say, wrapping one hand around the back of her neck and pulling her close. I twist my fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck.
To anybody walking by us, it’ll look like we’re in a close embrace. But she’ll feel me tugging on her hair — the subtle signal of dominance, the preview of what’s to come. I feel her body melt into mine a little bit, and I can just imagine the thoughts racing through her head.
“Listen,” I say, whispering in her ear. “No one made you do anything. You’re here of your own volition. If you want to leave, be my guest.”
I wait, and she doesn’t move a muscle.
“You’re not leaving? That’s what I thought. And secondly — despite the fact that I did pick out those heels for you, it’s not my fault you almost fell. That was entirely yours. If you hadn’t freaked out trying to rearrange your dress, you would have been fine.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have been rearranging my dress if —” She stops. “Why am I even saying this?” She huffs.
“Exactly,” I say, satisfied. “Now let’s go to dinner.”
As we start walking, I reach into my pocket. Now is the perfect time. She’s off balance, feeling less confident after what just transpired. And she won’t be expecting this on the way into the restaurant. I smile, thinking about what’s about to come.
I press the button and wait, expecting to hear some kind of hum.
But I hear nothing.
What’s going on?
The toy is quiet, but not that quiet. There’s nobody near us right now in the parking lot, and given how close we are, I’d expect to be able to hear it. But maybe my hearing’s gotten worse, or the toy company has improved their technology.
So instead, I turn the toy up and stare at Alex. She’s walking towards the restaurant, completely nonplussed. I turn it off, and she keeps walking. I turn it back on, watching her very carefully. No reaction — not even a slight hesitation, not a single glance towards me.
I know this girl is a good actor. She played me in that poker game like a fiddle. But there’s no way she’s this good.
I stop her. “You’re not wearing it, are you?” I grab her forearms and spin her around to face me.
“What?” she asks, shrugging.
“You didn’t follow my instructions.”
“Oh, I followed them,” she says, smiling coyly. “Come on, we’re here.”
She breaks free from my grasp and walks into the restaurant without me. I’m so thrown by what just happened that I don’t know what to do except follow behind her.
She’s right at the door of the restaurant when I stop her again. “Alex,” I say. “Over here.” I pull her to the side, right outside the entrance, against the brick wall in the dark. “You didn’t follow my instructions, did you?” I hiss.
“Oh, I did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
She grabs my hand and, quick as a flash, pulls it towards her body. She pulls it up against her pubic bone, and through her dress I can feel the silicone. It’s the part of the toy that rests over her clit.
“See?” she says, her eyes open wide. “Now let’s go inside.”
She walks right into the restaurant and up to the hostess, announcing our names. I can’t believe her audacity. No woman has ever acted like this. But I’m also confused. She’s definitely wearing it, but she wasn’t reacting at all when I turned it on and off.
Maybe it’s broken? I try pressing it again and get nothing.
The hostess leads us to our table, and as soon as we’ve sat down I get up. “A bottle of your best white for the table,” I say, “and your best scotch. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
I look at Alex before stepping away, and she’s smiling. Is that because I just ordered expensive wine, or because she’s up to something again? It’s impossible to say.
I step outside and quickly examine the remote control. I open the back and confirm that the batteries are in place. I put them in this morning, so I know they’re working.
I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve never been in this situation.
I don’t want to freak out and blame Alex for something that isn’t her fault.
It’s possible that the toy is just defective.
But then again, I’ve done this over twenty-five times and it’s never been defective.
Especially seeing as I now know Alex is prone to little mind games.
There’s just something about that smirk on her face that makes me think she’s up to something. But what? I don’t want to accuse her unless I know for sure what she’s done.
I contemplate my options and then dial the first number in my phone—my assistant.
“Jake. I have a weird request for you, but I need you to do something for me right now, in the next ten minutes.”
“Oh — okay,” he says. He sounds surprised.
I spend the next two minutes explaining the situation to him.
“So let me get this straight,” Jake says slowly. “You want me to phone the company and get them to check whether the toy is working?”
“Yes.”
“And what if they don’t respond, or what if they say it’ll take a while to get an answer?”
“Tell them it’s for Callum O’Leary.”
“Got it. And do you want me to call you when I figure it out, or text you, or —”
“If the answer is simple, you can text me, but if it’s going to take a while to explain, just give me a call. I need an answer within the next ten minutes.”
“Got it.”
I hang up and take a deep breath. I run a hand through my hair. This is not how I thought this evening would go. I felt so good at the beginning, like I had the upper hand. But somehow, this girl has flipped things once again.
I’ll have answers soon, though. For now, I just need to walk back to the table and pretend like everything is fine.
I arrange my shirt collar and stride back inside.