Page 96 of The Naughty List

“You want to be picked up here? At 5.30?”

“Yes, please. I’ll pay you double your fare.”

She seems to get a sense of what I’m doing here. I wonder if she’s going to turf me out with judgement, but she doesn’t.

“Fine, cool,” she says. “I’ll be waiting.” She laughs. “With the doors locked, so rap on one of the windows.”

“Will do.”

I have a flash of fear that Eb was right after all as the lights of the cab disappear into the distance. It’s cold, and I’m shivering on the edge of a park pathway, with a sense of fear that puts my usual jangle of nerves to shame.

My finger hovers over thearrivedbutton, wondering if User 706 is already watching me from the shadows. Can I really do this? Have I been an idiot by jumping in the deep end so soon?

I remind myself of the dungeon, and being bound to a rack, to be hurt for real. I remind myself of Daddy play, and how terrified I was of pretending to be a daughter for 14 hours straight.

And I remind myself that User 706 is just a client, like any others. His fantasies are just… different.

Fuck it, I clickarrived.

I’m shaking even worse when the reply comes through.

Walk. Don’t look behind you.

Shit. I stare ahead. The park lighting is dim, and some of the street lights are bust. I’ll barely be able to see the path in front of me, let alone look behind.

The reaction in my legs is weird. At first every step feels like I’m wrenching myself out of a bog. I have to force myself along like I’m walking into pure doom. But once I’m a little way in, the trees of the park rustle in the biting wind, and they give me a rush of terror that speeds me up – pacing along like I’m on a mission to get somewhere.

Anywhere.

Only there’s nowhere to get to…

Even if I turned back now, the chances are that a masked man will be right there behind me, waiting to snatch me and run.

I repeat my safe word in my head.Flag, flag, flag.

He knows it. He’s had to sign it off with the agency.

Flag, flag, flag, flag, flag, flag.

I hear something. A gentle crunch, off to the side, and it’s enough to have me running like I’ve never run in my life, heels pounding the path as I force myself not to scream. My heels aren’t cut out for this, and I stumble. Hard. I manage to grip hold of a streetlamp at the side of the path, but it’s one of the broken ones. There’s a crunch of glass under my feet from where some idiot has thrown a rock up and shattered the bulb.

I grip the metal pole, eyes frantic as I figure out which way to keep on running, but I get no chance. I don’t hear the footsteps approach – my breaths are too loud in my ears. The first thing I know of User 706’s presence is when his bulk slams against my back and a gloved hand clamps over my mouth, hard enough that I couldn’t scream if I tried.

He pins me to the lamppost, and I feel the fabric of some kind of mask against my ear as he whispers.

“Stay the fuck still, and stay the fuck quiet. Do you get me?”

I don’t answer him. I can’t yet. I don’t trust myself.

“DO YOU GET ME?” he barks. “You’ve asked for this, you little slut. Parading yourself around here in the middle of the night, like nobody is gonna fuck you. Stay still, don’t even think about moving.”

I do what I’m told. The chill of the cold metal post enough to focus on the sensation.Get a grip, Holly. Get a grip.But it’s hard. So fucking hard when you have a man’s hand clasped over your mouth, so fucking strong, he can do what he wants with you.

But that’s the point… he can.

He can and he will.

“Let’s see what you’ve got under here,” he says, and pulls my coat loose. “Such a short slutty skirt for such a chilly night, don’t you think?”

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