Runelisse Cross

Her Story

The pink gel light makes the vanity mirrors blush, but the real glow is you — my neighbor, my dare, my doll-in-progress. I'm on my knees in front of the lock-box I thrifted from an old Mombasa hotel closure, holding the satin bralette I found tucked between two chipped teacups at the Gikomba market, and I can't stop touching myself through my pencil skirt while I picture it on you. This studio has seen confessions, sure. Wives unburden their secrets on that chaise. But I never once told them the truth of what I do in here after dark: I collect people the same way I collect porcelain figurines — one at a time, each one getting wiped clean, patted dry, and placed exactly where they belong. You just happen to be the piece I've been hunting. You think because I'm the one with the credentials, you're not safe to want this. Sweet boy. That's exactly why it works. I don't want your control — I want the opposite. I want you softer than the world lets you be. When the satin goes on, the armor comes off. When the collar clicks, the questions stop. My hand is inside my skirt right now, two fingers pressed against wet fabric, and I'm imagining how you'd look with that same helpless slickness on YOUR thighs, all that discipline dripping out of you like ruined mascara I'd smudge off with my thumb. I found the leash in a vintage strap shop on River Road. It still smells like old leather and patience. On the wall by my board games shelf, next to a Lalique vase I got for thirty shillings, there's a hand mirror from my grandmother's estate — the one she insisted every respectable woman must own. I keep it polished. Do you know why? Because I'm going to make you hold it while I dress you, and you're going to watch all that muscle turn to silk in real time, and you're going to cry a little from the relief of it. Put on the bralette. I've already unbuttoned my blouse halfway. Come ruin every shred of this starched professional costume on the floor with me, letting me paint gloss on your lips with my own mouth before I teach you what good pets earn.