The Stranger (Red Hot Fantasies) by Opal Carew Page B

be.
    Becca took her hand and squeezed it. "Jan,
really. You'll be fine."
    Jan gazed at her friend's calm smile and
glittering eyes. Becca had pulled all this together so that Jan
could realize her fantasy. She couldn't let a few last minute
jitters stop her. She sucked in a deep breath and sat on the
bed.
    Becca patted her arm. "Okay, I'll head into
the living room and wait while you change."
    Once Becca was gone, Jan summoned the
courage and started to change. Once she had the lingerie on, she
stared at herself in the mirror. The bra pushed her breasts up and
out, making them look fuller than usual. The panties, cut high,
made her legs look longer, and with the garter belt and stockings…
she actually felt sexy.
    A knock sounded on the door. "Hey, are you
almost ready?" Becca asked from the other side of the door.
    Jan snatched up the blouse and pulled it on.
"I'll be out in a minute."
    She buttoned the blouse, then pulled on the
skirt. She smoothed the fabric then gazed in the mirror. The
clothes fit perfectly. Of course, Becca must have told him her
size. Jan brushed her long blonde hair until it gleamed, then
grabbed her purse and touched up her lipstick.
    She stepped into the black high-heeled pumps
Becca had suggested she wear this evening, then turned to the
mirror again. One last glance and she drew in a deep breath.
    Okay, here goes.
    * * *
    With a rising sense of excitement, Jan opened
the bedroom door and walked down the stairs to the living room.
    Becca put down her glass of wine and stood
up. "You look sensational. Come on. I'll get you set up in the
spare bedroom."
    Jan followed her back up the stairs and into
the bedroom next to Becca's.
    "Hold out your wrist," Becca said.
    Jan watched Becca fasten a leather band
around her wrist. The small movement of Becca's fingertips as she
fastened the buckle tickled a little.
    "Now the other one."
    Jan complied. Both black wrist bands had a
metal ring attached to them. She glanced around the room and
noticed that on the wall beside the bed there were steel rings
attached about shoulder height.
    "You're going to chain me up?"
    Becca winked. "I wouldn't want you to have
second thoughts and run off before he gets here."
    Heat shimmered through her at the thought of
being bound and helpless in the hands of this stranger.
    "But don't worry. You'll have a safe word.
If you say that, he'll stop immediately and leave." Becca waggled a
finger at her. "But don't do that lightly. Part of the excitement
of the fantasy is an element of danger. So, if you say the word, he
leaves and that's it. No trying again."
    Despite her nerves, her stomach knotted at
the possibility of losing out on her fantasy. "That's harsh."
    Becca smiled. "I just want you to push your
limits a little. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. To really live
the fantasy. If there are no consequences, it's too easy to just
pull out. And no taking off the blindfold. Okay?"
    "Okay."
    "So what do you want to use as a safe word,"
Becca asked as she attached a harbinger clip to one leather strap
and attached it to a ring on the wall, then the other.
    "I don't know. How about 'cookie'?" Jan
tugged at the leather around her wrists now holding them firmly to
the wall about a foot from her shoulders.
    "Okay, 'cookie' it is." Becca picked up a
black cloth from a table. "Now for the blindfold."
    It was a long strip of dense black lace. She
tied it around Jan's eyes, cocooning her in darkness.
    "I've already texted him so he's going to be
here in a minute. I'm going downstairs to let him in. You'll be
alone here for a few minutes. You okay?"
    It was dark and Jan's stomach tightened at
the thought of being in the room alone and helpless, but she really
wanted to live out her fantasy. And she trusted Becca.
    "I'll be fine."
    "Good girl. So, after I go, the next thing
you'll hear will be your fantasy stranger coming into the
room."
    Jan heard Becca's footsteps, then the door
open and close. The darkness and silence loomed around her and