Rough Rider Ch. 4

A light rain had started to fall from the sky when she stepped outside, and she hurried to the pickup where he was already waiting with the passenger side door opened a crack. Quickly she stepped up inside and slammed the door behind her, shaking the water from her clothes as she sat, and made herself comfortable. She looked over at him and caught that strange smile on his lips again, the one that always made her stomach turn to butterflies. She looked around slowly, taking in everything around her. She smiled a little to herself at the truck itself – set high up off the ground, and decked out with all the latest amenities, right down to the leather seats. He even looked a little out of place in his own truck! There was a plastic bag on the seat beside them with the bookstore's logo scrawled across it, and she wondered when he'd had time to buy anything. But she quickly dismissed it as not important.

"Ready to go?" His voice quickly brought her out of her observations, and she only nodded softly in response.

"Where are we going?" She didn't really expect a response, and she didn't get one. Instead, he put the truck in drive, and eased out of the parking lot.

~*

When she finally made it home that evening she was tired, sore, and wet. Mike never even budged as she dragged herself into the bed beside him, still wet from her shower, and fell asleep. She woke up long enough the next morning to get the kids dressed, and off to school, then headed straight back to bed where she stayed until the phone woke her up at ten. It was Trina, of course, wanting to hear all about her evening with Jake. So Debbie pulled herself from the warmth of the comforter and headed to the kitchen for her breakfast of coffee and a bagel.

She liked these times that her and Trina shared - it was nice to feel like someone was a little interested in her personal life at least. For an hour or more she sat at the kitchen table in her panties, and told Trina every little detail she could possibly remember. She was just glad that Trina seemed to enjoy it as much as she did!

After she got off the phone, she quickly pulled a t-shirt over her head, and headed back to the kitchen to clean up a little before getting dressed and heading out. But just as she entered the kitchen the phone rang, and she quickly grabbed the one that hung on the wall, just inside the door - frame. She was immediately greeted by that thick Southern voice she loved so much.

"Did you have a good time last night?" She could hear that smile in his voice again, and she leaned back against the wall as she replayed in her minds eye what he must look like as he talked to her.

"Yes I did, very much so in fact." She thought about it for a very brief moment before adding a very shy, "Thank you."

She heard him laugh softly to himself, and she smiled as well, never being able to resist his lighthearted humor. "Anytime, Darlin', but I called to ask if you'd looked in that sack yet."

Of course! She'd been so tired last night that she'd just stumbled in and put it away. She'd completely forgotten about it this morning. She hurried down the hall to get the cordless, then back to the kitchen to hang up the one there.

She knew she was amusing him, running around like this, but she couldn't help it. She was very surprised at herself for having forgotten, and now that it was in her mind, she just had to know what was in it.

She dropped down to her knees in front of the nightstand and pulled the drawer out. She remembered how quietly she'd had to do this last night, to keep from waking Mike up, and how the small task of opening the old drawer silently had seemed to take forever. The sack was sitting right where she'd left it, and she quickly pulled it out and untied the knot in it.

It was a book. A book of ghost stories to be exact, and she thanked him profusely. She loved the old ghost stories, real or imagined, and it delighted her that he'd remember it, and that he'd get it for her. She flipped the book over, studying the back jacket of it thinking what great material it'd be to have in a nice hot bubble bath for a while.

"Do me a favor." His voice startled her out of her reading, and she quickly complied. "Take a look inside. Tell me what you find. I have to get going, I'll see you soon."

And he was gone, and she was free to read to her little heart's content. But not before she found whatever it was he was wanting her to look for.

She leafed through the book, and not finding anything, flipped it over and fanned the pages out. Sure enough a small white square of paper fell from between the pages, and she quickly picked it up and began to read.

So, my beautiful girl has risen for the day! I figured you'd sleep in a little, since I kept you out so late last night, welcome to the living! I want you to do something for me. There is a lingerie shop just a small ways from you, and I'd like you to go there for me. I've picked something out for you, but you need to go have the sizing done properly, and pick it up. The name of the place is 'Sugar 'n Spice', you'll have to look up the address. You shouldn't have any problem finding it. Ask for Judy, and tell her I sent you. She'll know what to do.

Jake

She reread the note before she raised her eyes, and she quickly scanned the room. Those damn butterflies were back again, and it was driving her crazy how she couldn't seem to stop that feeling whenever anything to do with Jake presented itself. She hurried to the kitchen for the phonebook that lived beside the phone and quickly looked the place up. He was right. It was just a few blocks away. She did have a few other things to do today, but surely they could wait while she made this one stop and figured out just what was going on.

As she got dressed she thought over her situation. She didn't really understand the relationship between her and Jake. Up until a week ago it had been simple flirting, and now that they had taken it a step further, he had changed. Well, she thought he had changed. Maybe this was the way he'd acted all along. Perhaps she just hadn't noticed. She'd have to remember to ask Trina about it later. Maybe she'd realized it before Debbie had.

And then there was the question of whether or not she was truly enjoying where this was leading. Sure it was frightening. And it was certainly different than the relationships she'd had previously. But it definitely wasn't a bad change. Every time she thought of the things he did for her, and to her, she got wet all over again. That can't be bad – right? And what about this whole surprise factor? She never could stand to be kept in the dark on these kinds of things. She liked to know exactly what was going on around her. She had never liked unforeseen circumstances popping up without warning. And that seemed to be the entire basis for this relationship they had going. He never seemed in a hurry to tell her anything about their dates until he felt good and ready. She just couldn't figure out why she didn't mind it when he did it!

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess by the time she was completely dressed, and she found it kind of ironic, when she glanced in the mirror, that she looked so calm and collected on the outside when her mind was going a million miles a minute.

It wasn't a long drive, and without much trouble she spotted the little shop hidden in a small thicket of trees that would have been easily missed if she hadn't been looking for it. She eased into a parking space, shut off the engine, and looked at the place. She had no idea why she was so nervous, but it seemed to take her a full five minutes before she could coax herself up the little steps and into the brightly lit store. The tiny bell jangled overhead, and she took in a shaky breath and looked around. There were teddies, babydolls, and camisoles galore. The place seemed deceptively large compared to what it had seemed to be while sitting outside in front, and she realized the somewhat narrow room seemed to stretch ahead in front of her. What it lacked in width it certainly made up for in length. Racks, shelves, and hooks piled high with satin and silk, bows and lace, straps and hooks, it was all just so gorgeous. She had never really owned anything as nice as the things in this shop, and she got a little giddy standing there trying to figure out just what he might have picked out for her.

"Can I help you find something, Ma'am?" The soft voice carried a lot of warmth, and what seemed to be a touch of that Southern charm she loved so much in Jakes voice. She quickly wrote it off as her imagination and turned to find a very small woman standing next to her. She couldn't have been any taller than 5'3, and probably didn't weigh over 130 pounds, but the girl's smile was sweet and genuine, and Debbie soon became very comfortable with her.

"Well," she started off hesitantly. She wasn't sure exactly how to explain to this woman why and how she'd been sent here. "I was supposed to be seeing a woman named Judy here."

The woman smiled that sweet girlish smile again.

"Well you're talking to her! What can I do for you?" The woman walked behind the long counter even as she was talking, and leaned against it, her elbows resting on the countertop.

Debbie followed behind slowly, still amazed at all the pretty choices in this place.

"Jake sent me here," she finally said, "I'm under the impression you know what it is I'm supposed to be leaving here with." She topped it off with a nervous laugh, wondering if Judy was used to strange women walking in clueless like this.

"Oh!" The woman's eyes brightened and she came around from the counter to stand in front of her. "So you're Debbie! He's mentioned you a lot. Especially lately!" The last piece seemed to be added on in a moment of second thought, and was followed easily by a sly grin, as she turned to walk away. Quickly Debbie followed, wondering what exactly had already been said about her, but she wouldn't have to wait long to find out.

"I mean, he hasn't said a whole lot about you, only that you two had been on real friendly terms up until now. He's had his eye on you for quite a while now." She stopped at the back wall, and Debbie could see that there was another room behind this one that probably served as a stock room.

"You wait right here, I'll be right back with Jake's order." The woman disappeared past the doorway and very quickly returned with a rather large box in her hands, and another woman following behind her. "Sophia's gonna watch the store while I help you into this and make sure it's the right size."

Judy edged past her and led the way across the room to a large dressing room, and motioned Debbie inside. She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and was still a little nervous, but it was soon forgotten when she stepped inside the room. It was done up in cream colors, and a very deep burgundy color trimmed the walls, and colored the door. She'd never seen such a nice dressing room before. There was a vase full of fresh flowers on a small table, and beside that, a cream colored cushion lined the wall. She hardly had time to sit though, as Judy pointed out the very next minute.

"If you'll just slip out of your clothes, I'll get this unwrapped for you."

It took a moment for it to sink it – that she actually wanted Debbie to undress in front of her.

Judy glanced up from the box, seeing Debbie still completely dressed, and looked confused for a second or two. "Is it a problem, getting undressed in front of me? You know, it'd be awfully difficult to get this thing laced up by yourself."

"Umm, no, I guess not." She reluctantly pulled the clothing off, little by little, until she was standing there in nothing but her bra and panties. "Is this ok? I still don't know what it is you have in that box!"

Judy laughed softly. "I guess I hadn't taken that into consideration. You can leave the underwear on, but you'll have to take the bra off." Without missing a beat, she stepped forward and began to unhook the bra from Debbie's shoulders, leaving her bare-breasted, and just a little embarrassed. She was still trying to turn this over in her head, make some sort of sense of it. "I guess if she doesn't mind being in the room with a naked woman, I don't mind either," she thought, and she felt herself slowly relaxing into the unusual situation.

But the next minute, Judy pulled from the box the most beautiful piece of clothing she'd ever seen, and any discomfort that might have remained quickly dissolved. The 'Hook and Eye' closures glinted in the overhead light, and the dark red trim was just icing on the cake. She slowly studied it, finding it hard to believe that this thing actually belonged to her.

"May I hold it?" Even as she asked her hands were snaking out to grasp the material in her fingertips, rubbing the softness back and forth between her thumb and forefinger before she turned it around, studying the two rows of eyelets in the back. It was almost completely black, but had deep red trim all around it, and a small patch on the belly of it was a deep red silk as well. She ran her fingers over the tiny red bows above the breasts softly, and smiled. Quickly she glanced up at Judy and caught a grin from her also.

"I'm guessing you haven't had a corset before?"

"No. Never. I don't think I've ever even seen one so close!"

"Well then! Let's get this one put on you then, shall we?"

Debbie nodded, and quickly handed the corset back to Judy. She wouldn't even have any idea of where to start to get that thing on her! It looked impossibly small to her.

Judy unhooked the eyelets in front, then motioned for Debbie to turn around. She slid the material over her shoulders, spun her around, and quickly snapped the closures back in place. It seemed to Debbie that there must have been a hundred of them, and she didn't know how she had done them all up so fast.

"Now, turn around and hold on to the door there." The door was a saloon-type, that left a definite gap between the door and the rest of the door frame, but still latched, and locked in place. It was just about the right height for Debbie to hold onto the top and be able to brace herself as Judy pulled, pinched, and folded her into the stiff garment. Little by little the air left Debbie's lungs, and she held back a giggle at the awkwardness of it.

Ten minutes later, Debbie had a very slim waist, no breath, and a very pleased Judy on her hands. "There! That ought to do it!" Debbie turned and slowly looked herself over in the full length mirror against the wall. The hourglass shape she now possessed didn't seem to fit the body she'd known for so long! She couldn't stop grinning at herself, even as Judy tugged on her this way and that, situating her body deeper into the strict confines of the whalebone.

'Of course, she'd never again be able to sit (or speak audibly for that matter) again, but it was a small price to pay', she mused.

All too soon though, she felt the laces loosening, and Judy was lifting it over her head. She tried not to show her disappointment at having it removed, but evidently, it was a futile attempt.

"Don't look so down! I can assure you he'll have you wear this much more often! But for now, you don't really have anything acceptable to wear with it now do you?"

She looked down at her faded blue jeans thrown on the cushion and had to nod her head in agreement. "I guess you're right."

"Besides, you have at least one more stop to make yet." Judy had that gleam in her eye again, and she quickly handed over a plain envelope. "Now I'm under strict orders that you are not to open that until you are fully clothed again, and out the door."

Debbie hurriedly got dressed, and when she had packed the box into the trunk and was sitting behind the wheel again, she anxiously peeled the envelope open. What she found was yet another hand-written note.

I hope you liked the corset I chose for you, there's plenty more that will come in time, but for now, I want you to make another stop for me. This one might be a bit more difficult to find. There is a place across town that sells 'toys', and I need you to pick something up for me. The place is 'Wicked Sensations', and you'll want to talk to Rick. This one will be a bit more ... trying. Call me when you're through!