“Will there be anything else, sir?” Malinda asked.
I considered, glanced around the store, and then shook my head.
“Have you considered vibrators, gags, nipple clamps, or hoods?” Malinda asked.
I was about to snap at her for presuming to suggest such things when Gail spoke up. “Sir, I think a gag would be useful.”
Malinda seemed taken aback by Gail’s interruption, but she lowered her eyes when I turned toward her. I looked from the receptionist to Gail, who met my gaze and nodded.
“Yes, thanks for reminding me. Show us the gags,” I ordered.
“This way.” Malinda led us to another display where she stopped and demurely lowered her gaze again.
I took a quick look at the shocking variety of gags and turned to Gail. Her mouth was open in a small “O” of surprise. “Well, since you thought one would be useful, I’ll let you pick it out, just this once.”
At my words, Malinda’s composure slipped. She blinked twice, then caught herself, and assumed a docile posture.
Gail swallowed and nodded. She stepped closer, her eyes going over the penis gags, the open mouth gags, the various ball gags, and even one that proclaimed it was an edible all-day sucker gag. After a few minutes of looking, in which the blush never left her cheeks, Gail reached for one in a horse-bit style. The box showed a lovely nude blonde holding it in her teeth. The box proclaimed the bit to “be flattering to the face; comfortable for long-term wear, and a great fit for smaller mouths.” Gail lifted it gingerly between thumb and index finger and held it out.
I took it and nodded solemnly. “Excellent choice. We wouldn’t want to be bitten, would we?”
Gail frowned and then lowered her eyes. “No sir, we definitely wouldn’t want anyone to get bitten.”
I held the gag out to Malinda. “I think that’s everything.”
She took it from me and nodded. “Yes sir, should anything be gifted wrapped?”
“That’s not necessary. Just total it up and bag everything.”
“Yes sir.”
While Malinda bagged the items, I heard the bell above the door, and a moment later, a middle-aged man entered from the front. It was the seated man in the photo with Malinda. The man had long graying hair interspersed with coarse black hair. His neatly trimmed beard was solid gray. He was as tall as I was and maybe more muscular, but it was hard to be sure beneath the custom-tailored suit.
The man took a good look at Gail, smiled appreciatively, and nodded my way. I returned the nod and the older man went through the doorway into the stock room.
I paid with a credit card and took all of the bags. Gail opened the outside door for me. Outside, she unlocked the van on the passenger side and waited until I loaded the bags behind the front seat. When I saw she was still standing there, I started to question her, but Gail spoke up. “In the front seat and raise your shirt.”
“Oh, I was getting worried that you were going to pop me another one,” I said with a grin and climbed into the passenger seat.
I unbuttoned my shirt and slid it upwards. The material caught on the bandages and the drying blood pulled tackily free.
“Hold still,” Gail said and peeled the tape back from the bloodiest bandage. “Damn, I’m going to have to restaple that one. Why can’t you be more careful?”
“Excuse me? You punched me.”
“Yes, but you should have seen it coming and stepped back. What did you think was going to happen to you after you coerced me into that submissive role in front of her?”
“Well, I didn’t expect you to punch me.”
“Humph, close your door. We’re leaving,” Gail ordered.
She went around to the driver’s side and I hit the electric locks for her. Gail climbed in as I shut my door and fastened my seatbelt. She cranked the van, backed out of the parking lot, and turned north.
“What was the point of that role-playing anyway?” she asked. “Did you get some kind of thrill from it?”
“Nothing like that. You saw how she eyed us when we came in. I gathered their usual customer doesn’t come in wearing old jeans, boots, and windbreakers on a warm day. I thought about what kind of people would use restraints and decided it’d be better to think we were into a little B&D rather than the alternative.”
“What alternative?” Gail asked.
“I don’t know … kidnappers maybe, sexual predators, or human traffickers.”
Gail turned to face me and after a second of consideration, gave me an approving nod. “Damn, you were actually thinking. I guess I wasn’t expecting that of you. Well done, Hoss.”
“I’ve been known to surprise people with my carefully thought out insight.”
She laughed. “Definitely not the Jesse I remember. You were always willing to leap into anything without thinking about the consequences.”
I raised my chin higher. “I beg to differ. I was ready to follow you without mentioning what I thought the consequences would be. Horny teenage males will do most anything for a steady supply of sex.”
“Now I know you’re messing with me,” Gail said. “The sex was never steady.”
“Not as steady as I would have liked, but since I didn’t have anyone else to compare it to, it seemed steady to me.”
“Aw, you poor deprived boy, how did you ever make it without me?”
I hesitated, unsure if that was rhetorical or not.
Gail took a long look at me and then shook her head sadly. “Okay, I’m sorry I didn’t leave a phone number or anything, but I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“I understand,” I said, waving her concern off. “Take a right at the next light. There’s a veterinarian supply house down that way.”
“You wounds didn’t look inflamed.”
“Never hurts to have antibiotics around,” I said.
“Oh, in that case, don’t worry. I’ve got enough in the first aid kit to kill an army of bacteria.”
“And you didn’t think I’d
