[Richard Darcy]

Samantha waited by the side of the silver Ford Focus, her eyes fixed on the door that he would surely come through as he exited the office building. She had made sure that she was five minutes early, rushing her last job of the day to make sure she had time to spare. Her stomach felt like a tightly knotted rope, somewhere between fear and anticipation, and on more than one occasion she felt the sudden urge to run, to be somewhere else. But her intense curiosity, and something she could not define within her – some hidden impulse – kept her rooted to the spot.

When her mobile phone started to ring, she was so wrapped up in the tension of waiting for him that it caught her completely by surprise. She lifted it quickly out of her small bag, with the intention of getting rid of whoever was calling her – her mother she suspected – before Michael arrived, but at the sound of the voice that answered her greeting, she stopped breathing. It was him.

“Samantha. I see that you have managed to follow at least one of my orders.”

She scanned the car park, trying to find where he was watching her from.

“I will be arriving in precisely three minutes time. You will find that the car doors are unlocked. By the time I arrive, I expect to find you in the back seat of the car. And I expect you to be naked.”

For a moment the meaning of what she heard escaped her. The surprise of being watched, the fact that he knew her number, and the unexpected turn of events held back the moment of realisation, but it soon hit.

“You what…?” Her tone was harsher than she intended, and she knew at once that it was not appropriate. “I mean… sorry… but I can’t just….”

“Well then, “ Michael’s steady voice replied. “As always, you have a choice. You can walk away now. Don’t get in and just walk home. Or, you can follow my instructions. Those, really, are you only two choices.”

Samantha stood silently still. The thought of climbing into his car, and stripping naked terrified her, but also excited her more than she could put words to. Her heart beat fast, and her breathing was quick and shallow. Her response was simple.

“Ok.”

As promised, the car doors were unlocked, and Samantha opened the rear passenger door and slid in. Three minutes he had said. Well, at least a minute of that must have gone already. She slid down the seat, hoping to make sure that no-one could see her unless they were directly looking in through the window, and undid the clasp on her skirt. She slid it deftly past her knees, struggling to kick it clear of her feet in the small foot-well. She decided to go for the panties next – the panties that had got her into all of this trouble – and slid these down too, again struggling to kick them free of her feet.

She felt unbelievably exposed, her bare ass touching the rough fabric of the car seats, but the pressure of time seemed to focus her. Trying to keep her mind clear of the fear that clawed at her, she let her trembling fingers undo the buttons on her blouse from top to bottom, and then wiggled her shoulders back and fore, always trying to keep below the line of the window, and slid it off her shoulders.

Now she knew she was in trouble. Now she knew anyone looking in would see immediately that she was undressed, but the sight of Michael entering the car park from the other side of the floor spurred her on. She was too far to go back now, and being caught half dressed would surely be worse. She contorted her body once more to allow her hand to unclasp her bra, and then sliding that too from her shoulders, she threw it to the floor, and lay fully on her side, across the seats, completely naked.

She could sense the shadow of Michael block the light from the windows, followed by the sound of the driver door opening, and someone getting in.

“Well,” Michael said softly. “It seems that we might make something of you yet. Thank you for obeying your orders so swiftly.”

Samantha didn’t know how to respond. She was lying naked, voluntarily, in the back of a virtual stranger’s car. Polite conversation seemed absurd. Instead, she simply blurted out the question most pressing.

“Where are we going?”

“Back to my house,” Michael replied, starting the engine. The Focus leapt into life, the cool breeze from the air conditioning hitting Samantha’s bare skin. Samantha lay still, adjusting her head slightly to a more comfortable position for the journey ahead, letting her mind begin to picture what he had planned at his house. And then she heard the door at her feet open. And then the door nearest her head. She froze, terrified, unable to look either way.

“Jess… Nia,” Michael said, his voice ridiculously breezy and relaxed. “Do come in. We’re all ready to go.”