‘Take your hands off me!’ said Ruby, trying to stay calm although she could feel anger firing up inside her.
The man ignored her and continued to thrust himself deep inside her while slapping Ruby’s backside and pulling her hair. The stinging pain in her scalp brought tears to her eyes and Ruby yelled at him to stop. But her distress seemed to heighten his vigour and he continued thrusting while continuing to yank on her hair and slapping her so hard that her backside felt raw.
‘I said get your fuckin’ hands off me!’ she roared, drawing back her arm and using all her strength to elbow him in the stomach.
The man yelped in pain and instinctively reared up and gripped his stomach. Within nanoseconds Ruby was off the bed and had reached for the knife she kept concealed inside her jacket. She swung round and pointed it at him.
‘Do you want a fuckin’ taste of it?’ she shrieked, jabbing the knife into the tender flesh of his throat but stopping short of drawing blood.
To her surprise the man looked up and grinned, despite the pain in his stomach and the menacing presence of the blade, which Ruby kept tight against his throat.
‘Ha, so you like to dominate, do you?’ he asked while Ruby stared at him nonplussed. ‘Pardon me. I assumed you like to be the submissive one like a lot of the girls. But, if domination’s what you’re into then let’s go for it. I’ve got some cable ties in my case. You can tie me to the bed if you like.’
‘Are you fuckin’ serious?’ asked Ruby. ‘My arse is stinging like hell and you’re asking me to carry on? Not a fuckin’ chance!’
She stood back, pulling the knife away but still holding it at arms’ length to ward off any further danger.
‘My apologies for misreading the situation,’ said the man, managing to maintain a cool façade despite his obvious pain and, Ruby assumed, apprehension at the sight of the knife.
‘Yeah well, next time you should fuckin’ check first,’ she said, pulling her clothes away from the side of the bed while still holding onto the knife.
When she had moved a good distance from him, she scooped up her clothing, dashed to the bathroom and locked the door so she could put her clothes back on. Once she was fully dressed, she emerged from the bathroom, still pointing the knife at the man in case he should try anything else.
‘I take it we’re finished for tonight then?’ he asked, unfazed.
‘Too fuckin’ right we are!’ said Ruby, throwing him a look that would cut through steel.
‘In that case I’m afraid I won’t be paying you.’
‘Stick your dodgy money up your fuckin’ arse,’ raged Ruby before striding through the room and out the door.
*
When Ruby arrived home, Tiffany was letting a bald, middle-aged man out of the flat. She raised her eyebrows inquisitively at Ruby as she walked past her while Tiffany said goodbye to the client and locked the door.
‘I didn’t expect you back so soon,’ said Tiffany as soon as she found Ruby in the lounge.
‘I’ve had enough for tonight. I’ve just picked up a right fuckin’ weirdo who thought I was having a bit of S&M,’ said Ruby.
‘Really? Did you tell him where to go?’
‘What do you think?’ asked Ruby, cynically.
‘Umm. I hope he didn’t hurt you.’
‘Not too much but my bloody arse is still stinging.’
‘Really? The cheeky bastard!’
‘Dead right!’ said Ruby. She then sniffed, her demeanour displaying an air of nonchalance. ‘Was that client your last for tonight?’
‘Yeah, that’s me all done,’ said Tiffany, flashing a wad of notes at Ruby.
‘At least you got paid for tonight.’
‘Aw, you mean the bastard didn’t pay you either?’
‘No but, to be honest, I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I can’t be doing with clients who think they can start roughing you up. You would never have thought it to look at him either. He seemed a real gentleman.’
‘It just shows, you never know what you’re dealing with in this business,’ said Tiffany, sitting next to Ruby on the sofa and giving her arm a sympathetic stroke. ‘Why don’t I pour us both a nice glass of wine and we can relax for the evening?’
‘Sounds great to me,’ said Ruby.
While Tiffany went through to the kitchen to pour the wine, Ruby thought again about the idea that had occurred to her on the way home, but it wasn’t until they were both feeling more chilled that she broached the subject.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ she began. Rewarded with Tiffany’s curious glance, she continued. ‘Well, strangely enough, that last client has given me an idea.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. I pulled my knife on the bastard and I couldn’t believe his reaction. He seemed to think it was some sort of game. So it set me thinking.’
Ruby paused, giving Tiffany chance to take in her words before she hit her full on with her idea. By this time Tiffany was staring at her with a confused expression on her face, and when Ruby knew she had her full attention, she came out with it.
‘I’m thinking of becoming a dominatrix.’
‘You’re joking!’
‘No, seriously.’
‘But why, for fuck’s sake? I thought you’d just been really freaked out by that guy.’
‘Yeah, because he hit me. But what if it was the other way round? I’d be the one doing the hitting.’
‘OK,’ Tiffany said, drawing out the word while she tried to come to terms with what Ruby was saying.
‘Think about it. It makes sense. I could earn a fortune as a dominatrix and I actually think it’s something I’d enjoy.’
Tiffany laughed. ‘Well, to be honest, you’d probably be good at it.’
Ruby returned her laughter. ‘Cheeky cow!’
When they’d finished laughing Tiffany said, ‘No, seriously, it does make sense. I mean, you’ve never fuckin’ liked men. This might give you chance to take all your hatred out on them. And you won’t necessarily
