The Collector Ch. 01: Erin

Author's note: This is the first chapter in what I believe will be a series. It features themes of reluctant sex. All characters are over 18. I hope you enjoy it.

*****

- Tuesday night -

'Panties off slowly, then sit, then touch yourself.'

The instructions had seemed so clear at the time, but here in the darkened study with him staring at her, Erin began to lose her nerve. She was still torn with indecision, with part of her wanting to run home to her parents. The other part urged her to stay a bit longer to see what would happen. After all there might be no home to run to.

A partially-opened blind lit her host from behind. Erin made out the silhouette of a man with a medium-sized build, close cut, light-colored hair, and a dark suit jacket. Any other details were lost in the shadows. The room was quiet.

She stood transfixed. She could easily leave through the same door that Valeri had used to usher her into the room just a few minutes earlier. That choice she knew would have dire consequences for her future. To remain here and do as she was told promised to be unpleasant in a very different way.

He cleared his throat.

Erin lifted her dress.

- Tuesday morning -

"Ms. Porte. Ms. Porte! Erin!"

Erin finally located the woman calling out to her. For some reason she hadn't pulled into the driveway. Erin pulled her carry-on bag down to the street to meet her.

Valeri turned out to be a striking Asian woman of indeterminate age. With a trim waist, toned legs and gorgeous jet black hair well down her back, she looked to be no more than thirty. Erin knew that she was probably older than she looked; Asian women were blessed that way.

"This way." Valeri led her to an elegant limousine. It reminded Erin of the one that she had ridden in as a child, before her parents had sold it and released their driver. "We want you to grow up more like your friends," her father had explained. Even twelve year-old Erin had thought it odd at the time. Most of her friends at the exclusive private school also arrived in limos.

Neither Valeri nor the driver offered to help her with her bag so she dragged it into the passenger compartment. Valeri joined her, crossing her legs and smoothing out her immaculate wool skirt. The car pulled away.

Erin felt a bit self conscious in her shorts and t-shirt. "It's not a really fancy resort, is it? I mean, I'll be okay dressed like this?"

Valeri smiled. "Erin, it isn't exactly a resort we're going to. But yes, you'll be fine dressed casually. Oh, you did pack the other clothes per the instructions?"

"Yes, clothes for the pool, two changes of casual clothes, and something for a nice dinner out. I'm set."

"And the lingerie, right?" Valeri was persistent.

"Yes, got that, too." The requirement that she pack lingerie had given her the most pause. Who cared, Erin wondered. Nonetheless she had packed a set of matching black lace bra and panties. Wasn't like she needed them for any other purpose. She wouldn't see her boyfriend again until classes resumed at UCLA, and that was months away.

They drove steadily toward downtown LA. Morning rush hour was mostly over but there were still several long stretches where traffic ground nearly to a halt. Valeri appeared completely comfortable to gaze out the window, but Erin increasingly was troubled by unanswered questions about the weekend.

"You know," she said. "My parents didn't really tell me much about this weekend."

"I see," said Valeri, but offered nothing more.

"They said it was a nice place. I could use the pool, swim, sunbathe, like that."

"Oh yes, it's very nice," Valeri assured her.

"But it's not a resort?"

Valeri sighed and turned her gaze from the window to Erin. The car turned from I-10 to I-405 North. "Erin, your parents obviously didn't tell you the full story behind this weekend. That's understandable. I'm not at liberty to disclose everything but I can assure you that you will be staying in a beautiful and safe home. There's a pool, two pools actually. The food is great, the grounds are beautiful, and you'll probably meet other young women with whom you have a great deal in common. Anything more you'll have to wait until we get there to learn."

"Okay, thanks." There didn't seem to be much else to say. Erin was confused by the air of secrecy, but her parents had encouraged her. Or rather, her mother had. Her dad had become increasingly distant of late, leaving home before Erin woke and staying at work until after she'd gone to bed.

They pulled off to Sunset Drive, east for a bit, then turned into Bel-Air. As the limo took them deeper into the exclusive community she marveled at the beauty and excess. Each mansion was more opulent than the next. Small swarms of service company trucks parked along Bellagio Road, their crews attending to lawns, gardens, and unseen pools. It was the LA of postcards, far removed from the relatively modest suburban neighborhood her parents had moved to just a few years ago.

At last the limo pulled into the driveway of an imposing contemporary home. The two women climbed out. Beyond the fence the peaked roofline towered above them, supporting a massive wall of glass. A short but immaculately landscaped trail led through a patch of bamboo to an ornately carved wooden gate. The motif unquestionably was Asian. Erin headed toward it.

"This way, Erin!" Valeri was waiting by a much smaller entrance marked 'service and deliveries'.

"Oh." Erin brought her bag and the two women entered the compound.

***

Erin's hands didn't have to travel very far. The cocktail-length dress she wore had been chosen to show off her legs, which it did nicely. Erin's sleek legs drew notice, either envy or desire, from all who saw them on display. Even in the modest heels she had brought, her calves were shapely and smooth.

She slowly slid her hands up the tops of her thighs lifting the dress as she went. Reluctantly, she continued until her fingers found her panties. She slipped a finger over the waistband on each side. Her heart raced. A final spasm of indecision wracked her, but she dismissed it. Taking in and releasing several deep, slow breaths she settled herself. She started to pull.

Shifting her body left and right Erin tugged the lace thong deliberately past her hips. Remembering Valeri's instruction to proceed slowly, she put on the best show she could, carefully sliding the thong just a few inches at a time. Finally they dropped to her ankles, where she kicked them aside. She was free.

Her host had no reaction. As Erin's eyes had grown accustomed to the dim room she could now make out a bit more detail, including the occasional glint of light reflecting in his eyes. As far as she could tell, he watched her carefully but otherwise remained still.

The chair waited behind her, a wide contemporary lounger of black leather. An overhead lamp cast a faint pool of light. As she seated herself, Erin realized the older man would have an even better view of her, while making it harder for her to see him. No matter, she thought. Perhaps what she was about to do would be easier if she could convince herself she was alone.

She slid her hand up her thigh toward her slit.

***

Even entering through the back, the home and grounds were spectacular. The path took them around the side before opening up into the lower portion of the grounds. Here palms and other native plants thrived in manicured beds, but most of the space was taken up by a lovely pool, and two curved rows of cabanas. There was no one else in sight.

"Here." Valeri led her to one of the cabanas. Entering, Erin could see it was larger than it appeared. There was a small sitting area, a queen bed with a nightstand, a shelf for linens, a small refrigerator, and a modest closet. The bathroom was equally compact, with a stall shower, toilet, and vanity. An envelope lay prominently in the middle of the bed.

Valeri seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Erin, there's a video waiting for you." She motioned to a tablet computer Erin hadn't noticed earlier. Watch it, then you may open the envelope." She edged toward the door of the cabana. "I have to let you know now, you may not wish to stay. The driver will wait for an hour. At any time until then he will take you home." She stepped out, closing the door behind her.

"What the hell is going on here?" Erin wondered. She found a home for her bag, put down her purse and sat down with the tablet. A video was already loaded. It was of her parents.

The scene was her father's study in their home. Both he and her mother sat in front of the camera, looking distraught. Her father was staring off to the side; her mother stared toward, but beyond the camera. She spoke with great effort. "Erin, please forgive us. We've always tried to do our best to take care of you. I hope you know that. But these past several years well..." she wiped her eyes "well, your father's business hasn't done very well. Erin, we're broke."

Erin knew their fortunes weren't as they used to be. Starting when she was in middle school they had moved from the gorgeous mansion she had grown up in to a series of ever more modest homes. The limo and driver had been let go in favor of luxury cars of their own, which in turn gave way to a merely upscale models. Summers abroad had turned into shorter vacations in Mexico, then into weeks visiting family here and there. But broke?

"I think they'll give you a list of some kind," her mother continued. She was staring at the floor now as she spoke. "But believe me, almost everything we have is gone. The house, even your car isn't ours anymore. The only way out is if Mr. Carter helps us." She drew in a ragged breath. "And the only way he helps us is if you give him what he wants." She dabbed at her tears with a tissue, soaking it before grabbing another. Finally she turned to Erin's father. "Raymond. Raymond! Tell her she doesn't have to do this, Raymond!"

At last the man spoke. "She knows that Myra." He spoke softly, still staring somewhere far away.

The video went on for a while longer. Her father never spoke again, but her mom carried on, veering from blaming her husband to assuring her daughter it would be okay. She spoke of how Mr. Carter was a nice man, very generous, but never while looking into the camera. Erin stopped the video and dabbed her own wet eyes with a tissue.

The envelope turned out to contain a ledger of sorts, a list of her family's assets. Erin scanned it.

Mortgage - In default

Lexus - Scheduled for repossession

BMW - Scheduled for repossession

Investment accounts - Closed

Investment properties - None remaining

Bank account - Under $2000

Credit cards - Over limit

UCLA tuition - $30,000 past due

Suddenly the cabana seemed suffocating. Dropping the letter, she burst outside, taking a few deep breaths.

Valeri hadn't gone far. Seated on a lounge chair, she looked at Erin with a look of detached sadness. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"You knew about this?" Her cheeks were damp with tears.

"Not every detail," Valeri said. "But the story, yes."

"Who is Mr. Carter? What does he want?"

Valeri closed her eyes and took in a long breath before making eye contact once again. "Erin," she said. "Do you like wine?"

***

Erin's fingers brushed her clit. The dry nub barely responded to her touch, any potential arousal still buried deep beneath her tension and reluctance. She repeated the motion, then worked her middle finger into her slit, exploring. Here she found only the faintest trace of moisture. Doing as she had been asked was going to be a challenge.

Seated as she was near the lamp, Erin's pupils contracted. Even the few details of Carter she previously had been able to make out disappeared. The man was now no more than a silhouette. She closed her eyes and sought out a fantasy to match the scene, its elements drawn from her current situation. In it, she was reclined naked on a sumptuous bed at the center of a dim room. Surrounding her just at the limits of her vision was a circle of men. She couldn't make out their faces, but she knew they were equally handsome and powerful. Driven by lust they bid, vying to be the one to ravish her. The bids started, two thousand, twenty-five hundred, five thousand. It wasn't important who they were paying or why she in particular was the object of their desire. Only their collective lust mattered.

A few of the men dropped out of the bidding but the others were relentless. Ten thousand, fifteen, and upward they bid. There was no auctioneer, just men shouting out an amount, hoping to take the prize. Knowing the winner would take her right away, Erin prepared herself, flicking her clit and slipping two fingers into her pussy. The sight of her pleasuring herself drove the men even wilder, and the bidding higher. In her fantasy world her slit was wet and ready; any of the men could have taken her right then, except of course there could be only one winner.

That winner took shape in her mind. Tall and muscular, the other men subconsciously cleared a space around him. He faced the foot of the bed, watching impassively as Erin pleasured herself. He hadn't bid yet, choosing to let those around him fight it out. Though aroused by the thought of so many men craving her flesh, Erin's eyes locked only on the stranger. It was as if she had chosen him, or somehow already knew he would be the one to have her.

More men dropped from the bidding, but remained at the periphery of the scene. Fewer men now bid as the numbers soared. 'Fifty thousand!' one man bid confidently, only to be immediately outdone. Bids of seventy, then eighty failed to stop the process. Erin's fingers flicked and twirled her bud, and probed her dripping slit as her own arousal rose. "Eighty-five!"

Finally, the stranger moved. Keeping his eyes on her, he shrugged off his suit jacket and laid it somewhere out of sight. He loosened then removed his tie. Casually he began to unbutton his dress shirt.

It was down to two men and the stranger. The final bidding was astronomical. A bid of ninety-five thousand lingered for a moment but was finally topped. "One hundred thousand!" was the counter. The crowd of lusty men muttered in amazement and envy. Deep in her fantasy Erin thought of herself as a work of art. Many could admire her, but only one could possess her. "One hundred and ten!"

The stranger removed his dress shirt and swiftly tugged off his t-shirt as well. Erin's fantasy lover was built like the cover of a romance novel, rugged but refined. One of the other men moved to make a counter, but the stranger finally spoke, cutting him off.

"One million dollars."

***

"The story of your father and Carter goes back to before you were born."

Valeri and a still distraught and confused Erin were sharing a bottle of Vouvray on the pool deck just outside of Erin's cabana. The Asian beauty held her glass elegantly, but Erin clutched at hers with both hands as if it might fly away.

"Carter, your father, and several other men and women had a side business in 1995. It was the early days of the commercial Internet. Carter had developed an algorithm for compressing digital traffic over wide-area circuits. At the time, data circuits were quite expensive. Carter's algorithms made it possible to move almost twice the volume of data over any given circuit."

This wasn't exactly news to Erin. Her father's telecommunications company had been quite successful and a source of family pride. "Okay, so..."

"So the company was ready to launch their product. Carter, who was technically inclined, had no interest in forming a company, hiring lawyers, negotiating contracts, etc. He left it to the others."

Erin had a bad feeling about where this was going. She put her glass down. "You're not saying my father cut Mr. Carter out of the company?"

"Completely," Valeri said. "He and the others formed their own company, filed patents on Carter's algorithms, built products on those patents and went to market. By the time he realized what was going on the new company was well on its way to becoming an established player in the telecom industry. Everyone involved became millionaires within just a few years. Carter was left with nothing."

"He must have sued."

"Eventually yes, but he had little money for lawyers and very little in the way of proof. He was the youngest and in some ways most naive of the bunch, still in his mid-twenties. Most of the suits were dismissed. Others Carter dropped when he realized the payout wouldn't be worth it. He had to start from scratch."

"I'm assuming this is his house," said Erin, looking about. Beyond the lovely pool and cabanas, the rest of the grounds rose over a series of terraces. There was an intermediate terrace with what appeared to be a more formal pool and gardens. Above and beyond that, the magnificent contemporary home itself rose several stories, capped by the majestic peaked roof she had seen upon their arrival. "He seems to have done okay."

Valeri smiled primly, but not without a touch of what Erin thought must be pride. "Yes. It took him the better part of two decades to recover but he has done so nicely."

"So what does he want from me?"

"Oh Erin, you must know. Carter has been taking his revenge on everyone who wronged him, including your father. He bought the mortgage to your house, the titles to your cars, watched as your parents depleted their assets living a lifestyle that they haven't been able to afford for years."

"But I didn't do anything to him And even if I had, inviting me to swim in his pool for a long weekend doesn't exactly seem like punishment. Although..." Even as Erin said the words a disturbing possibility occurred to her.

"Do you get it?" Valeri asked. "You're the last thing your father has. The only thing he still cares about. Carter doesn't want you for a long weekend; he wants you to stay the summer. And to stay the summer you have to make him happy."

"I have to fuck him."

"You have to fuck him."

***

In Erin's fantasy the stranger, impatient to claim his prize, didn't bother to fully remove his pants. Ignoring the gasps and jealous stares of the other men he strode quickly to the bed. She lay submissive and ready, her pussy wet and welcoming. Frantic to possess her, the stranger hastily unbuckled his belt and tugged down his pants and boxers just far enough to release his straining organ. His cock rose proudly, the swollen head giving way to a heavy and intimidating shaft. Unable to contain his lust, the stranger plunged forward impaling her in a single thrust.

Pinned helplessly to the bed, fantasy Erin had no choice but to stare into the dark, fierce eyes of her owner. His powerful and insistent presence was all she knew as he pumped her deeply and relentlessly. Her slick pussy was a perfect match for his raging cock. He stretched her with each thrust, filling and completing her like no other man had, like no other man could. All the while, he pierced her with his gaze, his hunger unhidden.

They came together, just as she had known they would. As his driving thrusts reached their peak, the pleasure became too much for her. Her body tightened, rose up, then finally yielded as the wave of ecstasy swept through her. She cried out. He was cumming somewhere deep in her, one hot spurt after another. The feeling of even greater wetness in her pussy coaxed the orgasm out as she let it roll through and own her. She thrashed and shuddered. Finally her spasms slowed down. She collapsed on the bed.

The bed was a lounger. As Erin's orgasm slowly faded away, she reluctantly emerged from her fantasy. She realized with a touch of shame that what had started out as no more than a way to get herself wet had run its full course. Splayed out on the lounge chair, her dress was pulled up to her tummy. One leg draped over an arm of the chair, spreading her wide. Two fingers were buried deep in her sopping gash. She opened her eyes.