between her legs, but overall she felt better, more alive, than she had since before the original home invasion.
She contemplated the future with real excitement and a carefree attitude that had been absent from her personality for months. That awful man had robbed her of her sleep, but he'd also taken away her ability to experience joy as well. And she had let him do that to her. But not anymore. He didn't have any power over her. He never really did. He was just some twisted little pervert who got off on hurting women. Not some all-powerful demon. She knew that now.
Without sleep deprivation clouding her judgment it suddenly became very clear to her that she hadn't needed to re-enact her dream to vanquish her nightmare. All she really needed to do was take control of her thoughts and acknowledge that, on some level, she'd been aroused by the idea of a stranger in her bed. Add the hot cop who'd come to her rescue and she had actually been living out her most deeply repressed fantasies every single night by combining the two concepts into one hot mess of subconscious desire. The fear and anxiety actually came from trying to deny her own sexual nature. But not anymore. She would embrace her sexuality from now on. In the privacy of her own imagination anyway.
Taking a long, hot shower was a sensual pleasure she'd never noticed before. Usually she bathed quickly and efficiently, but today she stood under the spray for long minutes and really experienced the warm water sluicing over her skin in a silky caress. Taking the bar of soap from its dish, she lathered up a soft, cotton washcloth and smoothed it over every inch of her body, paying very special attention to her breasts and her inner thighs.
Unable to help herself, she rubbed the cloth over her warm pussy and thought about the sound of his voice as he'd described how pink and pretty she was down there. Then she thought about his firm cock filling her, how he had been so ruthless and demanding once he'd been all the way inside her.
Dropping the cloth, Holly pressed her own fingers deep within her cleft while strumming her sensitive bud with one slippery thumb, just like he'd done the night before. Just thinking about him and his talented fingers and tongue was all it took to send her spiralling into her first solitary orgasm.
Back in her room, she got dressed with a small smile on her face. Looking at herself in the mirror over her dresser and seeing the flushed glow on her cheeks made her smile widen. She looked happy. Still thin, but the dark circles under eyes were definitely less noticeable and there was no denying the way her lips looked naturally red and swollen without even a hint of cosmetics. She looked like a woman who had been loved long and hard the night before and it suited her.
In the mirror's reflection she could also see the wreck that was her bed. The duvet was half off and the many pillows were either squashed into submission or on the floor. But he'd left nothing behind. Even her panties were neatly folded on top of her dresser. She'd been hoping he'd left one of the hand-cuffs or the scarf behind as a souvenir, anything to remind her that her night with her fantasy man had really happened, but there was no tangible sign of his presence at all. Even the security alarm was still set. Had she dreamed the whole thing?
Realizing that she'd never discussed a concrete plan for the return of her apartment keys with Miss Bright, Holly rushed out to the living area, looking on her coffee table and then the small dining table in her kitchen. Still nothing. Not a note or anything. She'd been half-expecting her spare apartment keys to be sitting in some obvious place, but they weren't anywhere to be found, which meant he had returned them to Emily, the barista at the coffee place off the lobby, or he still had them.
She looked at her watch and saw that it was just after three in the afternoon. Emily would be arriving for her shift soon. Instead of pulling on her usual sneakers, Holly searched through her hall closet for the high-heeled wedges she rarely wore. She wanted to feel pretty today and a cute pair of shoes wouldn't hurt her confidence if she happened to run into her dream man. Not that she would recognize him if he was there. Or would she? She really didn't know for sure but she hoped.
When she arrived at the coffee shop, Emily saw her right away and gave her a huge knowing grin over the heads of the customers waiting in line for her to take their drink orders.
Holly grinned back, and sat down at her usual table, knowing that her friend would bring her regular order over to her when she had a few minutes to spare. Judging by the eager expression on Emily's face, she would be doling out caffeinated beverages at turbo-speed in order to chat with Holly about her mystery man.
Holly tapped her fingers against the small, wooden table and looked around for any familiar faces, but there weren't any tall, broad-shouldered men anywhere to be seen. Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that she was torn. As much as she was a little distressed at the thought of a stranger still being in possession of her keys, at least it left the door open for him to make another appearance at her apartment tonight.
Is that what she wanted? A continuation of the fantasy? Could they just meet in the dark and live out whatever twisted desire that occurred to her? The idea had some merit. After living so many years without understanding the appeal of physical passion, she was not prepared to give it up now. Just one night had reformed her views entirely. She wanted more exquisite sex, and for her that seemed to begin and end with him.
Or did she want something else? More perhaps? But a relationship with a male prostitute? She really didn't think she was ready for that. And despite her modest career success she really couldn't afford to pay him ten thousand dollars a night. This had been a one time extravagance for her, and besides she was fairly certain that Delta of Venus Inc., did not offer repeat performances.
Of course, she could probably go to Miss Bright and say that her Scene Facilitator hadn't met most of her requirements and demand a repeat performance. That part was true, at least. She had requested a large, dominant man to invade her home in the middle of the night and force her to have sex with him. That's not exactly what she received. He hadn't really forced her to do anything at all. And she'd also requested that she be shackled throughout the entire scenario, which had not happened. And he had not taken her roughly from behind either. All in all, very few of her requirements were met.
Not that she was complaining. He'd given her exactly what she needed and so much more. But Miss Bright didn't need to know that. Holly could plead dissatisfaction and have another evening of complete and utter bliss with her dream man if she desired.
Waiting for Emily, she grinned to herself at this idea. As much as she might fantasize about black-mailing her dream man into a repeat performance, she would never actually do such a thing. Exploiting him like that would be the equivalent to forcing him and she wasn’t capable of being so ruthless. Besides, he'd already proven that he was incapable of fulfilling her fantasy. He wasn't the type of guy who could degrade women, even if they wanted it that way. She couldn't very well demand that he try the same thing again. Especially considering she had no interest in that particular scenario ever again. She was over it.
And who was to say that Miss Bright would send the same man anyway? The thought of being with someone else held zero appeal for Holly. She wanted one guy and one guy only. Even if she wasn't absolutely sure who he was.
Looking up, she saw that Emily was finally headed in her direction. And the tall red-head was dangling Holly's keys from the tip of one pale finger.
Holly tried not to let her disappointment show as Emily dropped the keys in front of her and set a frothy Frappucino and muffin beside them. Holly thanked her friend and took a sip from her drink to stall as she gathered her emotions. It was over then. He wasn't going to be coming back tonight or any night. And he hadn't put the keys back in the padded envelope she'd provided, so now her friend knew exactly what her dream man had been picking up. This was not good. The interrogation would now be unavoidable.
'Holly!' Emily said in a hoarse stage whisper as she sat down. 'Why didn't you tell me you were having a booty call? Damn, girl. It's about time. And that guy! Whew, he was something else.' She fanned herself with her apron like she was in the middle of a heat wave.
Holly gave her friend an admonishing look. 'He was just testing my alarm system for me. I was at my mom's last night and he needed to get in there to take a look at it.' Holly said lamely.
Emily's grin widened. 'He came in at 11:30 last night to pick up that mysterious package and then dropped the keys off at 5:30 this morning wearing the same exact clothing, except his shirt was on backward.'
Holly just shrugged.
'He looked like his hair had been attacked with a rake and you're trying to tell me that he was testing your alarm all night long? I think he was testing something else all night long. Am I right?'
Holly went on the defensive. 'What were you doing here this morning anyway? I thought you were working the afternoon shift.'
'Had to switch. Concert tonight. I'll be leaving in about 20 minutes to get ready, so spill it. Who is he? And did you finally have the big 'O?' Cause Mr. Tall, Dark and Dangerous looked like he was packing some serious heat.' She
