Tick ... Tick ... Tick...

Alice opened her eyes and gave a frustrated little groan as she sat up and blinked blearily at the clock on the wall... 2:45 it read.

“Fuck!” she said exasperated, “Why can’t I get to sleep?”

After another rotten day at her rotten job, she had decided to put this day away and had went to bed early, hoping to forget today even happened. But instead, she’d just been lying awake and getting gradually more and more annoyed.

Why was it that when she needed to stay awake, she would invariably drop off ... and now, when she had to get up early in just a few hours, she couldn’t buy a few hours’ sleep? Usually she didn’t have any problem, when it’s time to sleep she could turn off her bedside lamp and be asleep in less than a half hour. But not tonight.

Alice sighed, cursing under her breath. She went into the bathroom for a glass of water. Looking in the mirror, she looked at the tired, haggard face that looked back at her. A lock of her long messy chocolate-brown hair fell into her eyes and she blew it away, irritated. She needed to do something with her frizzy, flyaway hair, she thought as she reached up to toy with the errant lock. Yet another thing for her to worry about when she should be dead to the world.

She knew the real reason she couldn’t sleep, but she didn’t want to admit it to herself. She had bumped into her ex-boyfriend James a few days earlier and he had some young blonde honey hanging off his arm. He had introduced her to Alice – Jenny was her name evidently – and she seemed nice enough.

But that only infuriated Alice more. They had broken up only a couple weeks prior to that and already he had a new squeeze! Hell, it had been his fault that they ended things anyway! He had been the one who ignored her, who had left her at home so many times while he went out with the boys, and who would come home drunk and pass out on the couch more nights than not.

They hadn’t had sex in over six months and hadn’t really talked more than casual conversation in half as long. She often wondered if they could still consider themselves a couple – or were they just roommates now?

She had always worried about him when he went out, too. She had loved him – she still did, in fact – but she couldn’t honestly say that she trusted him. Not totally. Not enough to be able to sleep properly, knowing that he could be doing anything right now. James had something of a reputation as a ladies man. He liked to drink and, with his tall dark good looks, he was always being approached by girls in clubs.

And he was friendly, flirty even, never afraid to buy a round of drinks or dance with a pretty stranger. Alice always found herself panicking a little wondering what he was up to. And there had been a couple of ... indiscretions. He’d been caught getting a little too friendly to some girl more than once.

She couldn’t pin actual fucking around on him, but it was close enough that it pissed Alice off and caused them to have a few big fights. He claimed innocence, but she had friends who told her a different tale. So finally, she called it quits and moved to her own place. Now he seemed to have moved on to a new prize! And she was back in her little single bed and feeling more than a little sorry for herself.

She huffed a sigh and went back to bed to try to sleep again. She rearranged the pillows behind her head, trying to get comfortable. She was too hot. She was always either too hot in bed, or too cold it seemed.

Tonight she had opted for her favorite baggy old t-shirt and her panties. Even these seemed stifling right now. She glanced over at the clock again. It now read 3:00 am. Alice decided to slip off her t-shirt at least. She crossed her arms in front of her and pulled the loose fitting t-shirt off and tossed it unceremoniously to the floor by the foot of the bed.

Already that felt better. She shifted onto a slightly cooler part of the mattress and exhaled deeply. Her bare backside felt nice against the chilly fabric and she gave a little shiver. It felt like there was something a little bit ... naughty about lying here dressed only in her panties.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the phone rang, startling Alice out of her unladylike thoughts.

“Hello?” she said, wondering who on earth would be calling her at such a late hour.

“Did I wake you?” the deep voice on the other end asked. She knew immediately who it was, and her heart beat faster at the sound of his voice. It was Richard, a man she’d had a brief, but torrid relationship with a little over a year ago.

It was before she had met James, she was sitting in a little coffee shop enjoying a break from doing her shopping. It was a nice day out and she had been sitting outside in the little patio enjoying the sun, when a voice behind her spoke:

“You’d better be careful my dear, the sun can be fierce this time of year and your fair skin doesn’t offer much protection! I’d hate to see such a lovely young girl get a bad sunburn!” he said.

She turned to see the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on! He was older – about 10 years her senior, and he had an air of authority about him that hung thick in the air. Alice felt her panties dampen the moment their eyes met and he still had the same effect on her now.

“H-hello Sir,” she stammered. Damn! How did he do that! she thought to herself. Alice was a full grown woman, an adult almost 30 years old. But one word from him and she felt like that awkward, giddy little school girl all over again.

“No Sir, I was just trying to relax ... it was kind of a rough day today,” she said.

“Oh? Trouble?”

“No, not really. Just a long day at work is all,” she said.

“I see. Well shall I see if I could help you relax some?” he said.

“That would be wonderful, Sir!” Alice said.

“I assume you are in bed?” he asked.

“Yes Sir...”

“Very well. I want you to lay back on your bed and get comfortable then,” he said.

Alice pushed aside her sheets and blankets and laid down on her back. She knew what he was about to do and was already feeling her pulse quicken in anticipation.

“I am ready Sir,” she said in a hushed tone.

“Good. Now I want you to just relax. Relax and let me into your mind. You have had a hard day haven’t you, my dear?” he said in a deep, soothing voice.

“Oh, yes Sir,” she said.

“Well just forget about the day and concentrate on the sound of my voice. Just let me take away all your cares and worries...”

“Mmmm, I’d like that,” she said, already relaxing some. She knew that if anyone could get her to relax it would be him. He had done it before.

She wriggled in her bed getting more settled. His voice came over the telephone receiver and seemed to wrap around her like a warm soft blanket.

“What do you have on right now?” he asked.

“Just my panties. I took my t-shirt off a little while ago because I was too hot,” she said.

“I see. Well that’s good, but I can’t guarantee you won’t be getting hot again!” he said. Alice giggled, feeling herself blush at his words. “Now I want you to reach up and play with your nipples. I remember you had wonderfully sensitive and hard little nipples. Are they still as sensitive as they were then?”

“Yesss...” she sighed. She reached up with one finger, lightly circling her nipple as she felt the fleshy button stiffen – partly from her teasing and partly from his voice in her ear.

“Yes, I remember how they used to harden when I would lick them ... when I would suck those little buds into my mouth. Remember?”

“Ohhh...” she moaned quietly. Yes, she remembered all too well. Richard had been a wonderful lover, patient, considerate, and caring. He made sure that she was always satisfied and that she had just as good a time as he did. Alice had never failed to have fantastic orgasms with him, many of which had left her exhausted, sweaty, but grinning like a Cheshire cat!

He could hear her breathing changing as he talked with her – at first soft and gentle, but getting harder and more labored. He continued the game.

“Are those nipples getting hard for me?” he asked.

“Yess ... Sirrr...” she moaned.

“Good girl. Now I want you to pinch and pull them. Imagine it’s my teeth on your nipples ... you remember how I used to love chewing on those hard little nipples ... making a meal out of your wonderful tits,” he said, soft and low.

“Ohhh, goddd...” she whimpered. When he called her “good girl” she always melted. She loved being his good girl ... she loved being his. Alice could feel her panties getting soaked as she toyed with her nipples and listened to his calming, sexy voice.

“Are you feeling a little better, now?” he asked. He knew the answer already, he just wanted to her hear say it.

“Yes Sir,” she said softly, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my little slut. You know I’m always here whenever you need me,” he said reassuringly.

“My little slut.” He used to call her that when they were together and it would always turn her on incredibly. She loved being his little slut, being talked dirty to and being degraded and humiliated.

She knew he did it because she needed it – strange as it seemed, she was most happy when she was his whore and his slut. She had had her fill of being treated with kid gloves – like she was some kind of china doll that you just sat on a shelf and looked at. She wanted to be used, she wanted to be of use. And he did that for her. He treated her like a tool, not like a chachkie or ornament.