Hotline Pleasure

PREVIEW

“Tell me what you’re wearing.”

My fingers fumbled with the phone, nearly dropping it as my breath hitched. My heart fluttered—too fast, too hard, like a tiny bird trapped in my chest.

Oh. Oh no.

I blinked, my wide eyes darting around the office, as if someone might hear the way my stomach flipped, the way heat prickled up my neck. The usual sounds of clicking keyboards and distant chatter faded, the world narrowing to just him.

“I—I’m at work,” I whispered, curling my fingers around the phone cord, twisting it, twisting myself into knots.

“And?”

Hang up, Madelaine. Just—just end the call.

But I didn’t.

Instead, my free hand went to my mouth, my teeth biting down on the tip of my nail as I tucked my chin down, small, unsure.

“U-Um… A blouse. And a skirt.”

“Details.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, teeth pressing harder into my nail.

“It’s, um,” I whispered, fingers twisting the hem of my skirt. “A white button-down. Fitted.”

“And the skirt?”

My fingers clutched at the hem. “B-Black. Pencil skirt. Just above my knees.”

“Stockings?”

“N-No,” I whispered.

He made a quiet, thoughtful sound—low, approving. It sent something fluttering through me, something I didn’t understand.

“Panties?”

My eyes snapped open.

I made a soft, startled noise—somewhere between a gasp and a tiny, breathless squeak.

Oh my God.

My skin prickled, heat crawling up my spine, up my neck, burning my ears.

“I—I—”

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even breathe. My chest rose and fell too fast, my fingers trembling as I dropped my hand from my mouth, clutching at my desk like I needed to hold onto something real.

“ Y-Yes.”

He chuckled. Deep. Dark. Knowing.

“Liar.”

A breath left me, soft and fragile, like he’d stolen it straight from my lips.

“I—I’m not—”

“Hmm. You did what I told you, right?” His voice was silk and smoke, slipping under my skin, curling deep into places that felt wrong. “No panties today at work?”

My thighs squeezed tighter, warmth pooling low in my belly. This is embarrassing.

“I-I have to go,” I whispered, voice barely there.

I hung up.

Silence swallowed me whole.

What did I just do?

I looked around, eyes wide, heart still racing like I’d done something bad. Like someone might see the shame creeping up my throat, the guilt curling deep in my stomach.

I wasn’t that kind of girl. I didn’t talk to strangers on the phone like… that.

My fingers pressed over my lips, as if I could wipe away the words I’d just spoken. As if I could erase the way his voice had made me feel.

I’m Madelaine Brook.

I’ve made a mistake.

I entered a personal hotline looking for… I don’t even know. Something. A distraction. A fantasy. A thrill I shouldn’t have wanted.

But I got something else entirely.

Because I don’t know his name. I don’t know his face.

I only know his voice.

And I don’t know it yet… but that voice belongs to my boss.