Heart of the Hunter

by Chance Carter

  I turned to her. I wanted to say no. For some reason, I suddenly wanted to get out of there and drive back to the Valley and tell Grant everything that I’d been feeling since we made love. I wanted to tell him that I thought we were soulmates, that I knew we’d been secretly in love with each other for our entire lives, that we were made for each other. But I knew I couldn’t. Grant didn’t feel those things. He’d had his chance and he’d turned me down.

  I had to face reality. Grant wasn’t interested. I was single, no man even remotely wanted me, and whatever I was doing just flat out wasn’t working. I had this chance with Rob, but I could already feel it slipping through my fingers. He couldn’t even get excited about me for long enough to get a condom on. If I couldn’t make him hard, I wouldn’t be able to make him love me.

  “All right, Cassie,” I said, “let’s see what you’ve got.”

  “Perfect. Get out of your clothes and get into that green robe. I’ll just go check on the surgery, make sure we have time for this.”

  I undressed and put on a light green robe that felt as if it was made out of paper. It tied at the front. I sat in a comfy, leather chair in front of one of the mirrors and waited. Cassie came back and said the operation wasn’t going to be finished anytime soon. She would give me the works.

  The next two hours passed pretty much as if I’d been at some high-end spa. Cassie flipped a switch and enough lights turned on to brighten a stadium. I felt as if I was in Marilyn Monroe’s dressing room. Cassie started by shaving me. It didn’t take long because I’d done it myself, but she insisted it was the first step. She ran a razor over my legs, armpits and private areas. The robe gave her access to everything she needed. Then she had me step into a futuristic looking shower. It was like a little spaceship, with blue lights shining down on me from above.

  “Is there any chance you might be pregnant?” she said.

  I stopped dead. My night with Grant! No protection! It was possible. Anything was possible. I hadn’t even thought about it, I didn’t feel pregnant, but I hadn’t had my period yet either.

  “Is there a risk?”

  “No, not at all,” Cassie said, “but we have to ask.”

  “No chance,” I answered.

  I guess my feelings about Grant were pretty mixed. If he’d wanted me, if he’d wanted a relationship with me, I’d have given my life to get pregnant with his child. But if he didn’t want me, then fuck it. Fuck him.

  “All right then, are you ready?” Cassie said, from outside.

  “I think so,” I replied.

  Water started falling from the ceiling, the perfect temperature, but as I let it wash over me I realized that it wasn’t exactly water. It had an oily, soapy consistency to it and it smelled like roses.

  “Just wash in the water like normal,” Cassie called from outside.

  After a few minutes, the water stopped and air started blowing on me like a hair dryer. When it stopped, I stepped out and Cassie gave me a fresh robe.

  “How did you like that?” she said.

  “It was fine,” I said. “It got in my hair and on my face.”

  “That’s good,” she said. “It’s a propriety thing. The water contains a tanning accelerator, vitamins and minerals for your skin, moisturizers and a light fragrance.”

  “It was really nice.”

  “Your skin should feel really good now,” she said. “And your hair. The blue light was UV, so the shower will also have given you a light tan, perfect for your skin type.”

  “Is that so?”

  Cassie smiled. “Come on. Now for the fun part.”

  I wondered for a moment what exactly I was getting myself into as I lay down in something that resembled a dentist’s chair. A circular light shone down on me from above.

  “Luckily, your hair is perfect already, so all we’ll have to do is straighten it and style it for you.”

  “All right,” I said.

  I lay there for the next hour while Cassie put on layer after layer of make up, including foundation, eye-liner, blush, lip-liner, lip gloss, lipstick, collagen cream, contraster, highlighter, contour definer, and eye shadow. She didn’t stop there. She seemed to spend almost as much time putting makeup on my boobs as she spent on my face. She brought out the shadow, enhanced the skin tone, increased the definition of their natural shape. She even put a range of pink colored powders on my nipples. And she didn’t stop there. My vagina received a similar treatment to my nipples, with the pink powders enhancing and perfecting the shape and color tone of every detail.

  She affixed the longest and most dramatic fake eyelashes I’d ever seen to my eyes, and put long, silicone nails on my hands. My feet received a full pedicure.

  “All right, stand up,” she said after it was all done. “What do you think?”

  I was stunned. I didn’t even recognize myself. In front of me, in a curved, full length mirror, was my entire body, naked, and as close to perfect as I’d ever seen it. I looked like a supermodel, or more accurately, a freaking porn star. Everything was done to the max, to enhance and emphasize my sexuality. My skin glowed as if I’d spent the last two weeks lying on a beach. My hair fell down over my shoulders in lustrous strands. My nipples and vagina stood out more than usual, but the enhanced pink looked natural. I had no doubt that men would find me more attractive like this. I was like every man’s wet dream.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I don’t know, Cassie,” I said, honestly.

  “I know it’s a shock,” she said, “but give it a shot. You’ll be amazed at how differently men treat you. They’re going to swarm all over you like flies to honey.”

  “But is that what I want?”

  Cassie shrugged. “You won’t know until it happens. Now quickly, let’s get you dressed before Doctor Crawford gets here.”

  “He’s going to be shocked,” I said.

  “No he won’t. All of this was his idea.”

  “Excuse me?” I said, startled.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Cassie said. “There’s no charge. He just told me to see if you’d be interested in giving this a try while you waited.”

  “I was set up?”

  “No, not at all,” Cassie said. “He just wanted you to feel comfortable, making your own decision about it. He didn’t want you to feel like he expected you to do this. He just wanted to make sure you had the opportunity.”

  “Cassie, I thought this was just something you and I were doing together.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” Cassie said. “There’s no way a receptionist could have done all this.”

  “I see,” I said.

  I was confused. I didn’t know if I should have been upset or not. I felt deceived, but a part of me was excited about how I looked, and I had agreed to it.

  “So you’re not thinking of going to college?”

  “I already went,” she said, a professional smile on her face.

  I saw her differently now. She wasn’t the kind, innocent girl I’d thought she was. She was a trained professional, who’d tricked me into looking the way Rob wanted his date to look. It was a betrayal. She was making light of it, but the whole thing had been a total and complete deception.

  “I guess I’ll have to be more careful what I believe when I’m around here,” I said.

  “Let’s get you dressed, cutie,” Cassie said. “You can’t go out naked.”

  I felt a slight shudder as she called me cutie, as if it wasn’t just a casual remark, but something designed to put me into a certain role.

  “My clothes are right out there.”

  “No they aren’t. I sent them down to your car already. Rob wanted you dressed in a certain way.”

  “What?”

  “Look, I’m just doing my job. If you don’t like it you can go home and wash it all off. It’s just makeup.”

  I looked around the room. My clothes were gone. I sighed. It would be easier to let her dress me than to make a scene. If this was what Rob wanted for his date, he co
uld have it. At least he might be able to get a hard one when he saw me this time.

  “First, we have body sculpting underwear,” Cassie said.

  I put on a bra that was padded in the cups with flesh colored latex. Cassie pulled the straps from behind me and it pushed up my breasts and squeezed them together, creating far more cleavage than I ordinarily had. There was actually a lot more padding in the cups than I’d realized, and when I saw the effect, it was almost as if I’d had a major boob job. It hurt a little, but there was no denying the effectiveness of the harness.

  “What do you think?” Cassie said, taking a step back to admire her handiwork.

  “Does it matter what I think?”

  She smiled. “Now you’re getting it, cutie pie. Listen, if you want to get on with hotshots like Rob, you’re going to have to play their game. They like their girls ditzy, like bimbos. It’s not about what you think, or what you say, it’s about how you say it.”

  “And how do they want me to speak?”

  “The way I speak, sweetie,” she said, her voice taking on an exaggerated sweetness.

  “I see.”

  “You’ll get it.”

  “What if I don’t want to get it?” I said.

  “Listen, Lacey. I’m trying to be your friend here. This is just one night. Just a date. Nothing untoward is going to happen. You’re just going to have the chance to be one of the girls that you always see on the arms of these guys.”

  “Have you been that girl?”

  “Of course. You don’t get ahead in this world without playing the game.”

  “Do you even have a daughter?” I said.

  Cassie paused for a moment before answering. “That part was true,” she said. “And I quickly learned that if I was ever going to have the kind of guy I wanted, I’d have to up my game.”

  “So you’re married now?”

  “Not exactly,” she said. “But I live in a forty-grand a month condo with my daughter, I drive the most expensive Audi you can buy, and I’ve been to parties in fifteen countries so far this year.”

  “Sounds very glamorous.”

  “Come on, put on these panties.”

  I slipped into an expensive pair of crotchless panties. Easy access to my pussy for Doctor Crawford, if he decided he wanted it. The dress that Cassie laid out for me looked like an ordinary black dress, but as I put it on, I realized it was carefully padded in certain locations that accentuated my ass and thighs. It squeezed in my waist, and then further expanded my already ample bosoms. It had the effect of making me look twenty pounds skinnier, while at the same time giving me bigger boobs and a bigger ass. If it wasn’t for the circumstances, I’d have been impressed.

  The shoes, naturally, were a pair of black Louboutins with red soles and heels as high as was physically possible.

  “You look perfect,” Cassie said, turning her back on me. “Knock him out. He’s addicted to chicks like this. Just play the role and he’ll be coming inside you all night. You look like you could use a good screw.”

  Chapter 16

  Lacey

  ROB STOPPED DEAD WHEN HE saw me in the reception.

  “Holy shit,” he said, obviously thrilled by what he saw. “Now you see what I was trying to say last night? You’re hot shit, Lacey.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and without even realizing it, I let my voice go a little higher than normal.

  Cassie was sitting in her position behind the desk, watching. Her eyebrows rose in approval at my high pitched tone.

  “This is what I was talking about. How do you like it?”

  I wanted to slap him. I wanted to call the fucking police and tell them I’d been tricked into this humiliating situation, but again, it was as if the outfit and the makeup changed my personality, along with my appearance.

  “I love it, baby.”

  “So much better,” he said, shaking his head. “So much better. You even sound better. You sound like a lady, Lacey. You know that? This really brings out your natural beauty so much more.”

  I wanted to laugh. There was nothing natural about this beauty. But instead I just stood there as he walked toward me and took my arm.

  “Thank you, darling,” I said, almost making myself throw up.

  When had I allowed myself to become such a pushover?

  He of course looked as dashing as he had the night before, dressed in an impeccable navy suit. His shirt was of such high quality cotton it almost felt like silk. He smelled of the finest aftershave.

  As we walked past a big mirror by the elevator, I caught a glimpse of myself and it amazed me. I looked like one of those actresses on the red carpet outside an award ceremony. I looked fucking amazing.

  I swallowed all my inhibitions, and decided to give this a fair shot. I’d try my best to see how this felt. I’d never allowed myself to be a complete, girly girl before. I’d never allowed the old, traditional stereotypes and gender roles to completely take over my will. Whatever I’d been doing so far in my life clearly wasn’t working. Maybe this was the woman I was meant to be.

  Even before I’d gotten there, I’d decided to give Rob another chance. I’d forgive him the deception he’d used, and play along. It was just one evening after all.

  “Maybe tonight we’ll actually be able to have some action,” he said, patting my ass as I stepped into the elevator.

  My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Cassie could still hear us. I knew he was trying to compliment how hot I looked, but there was something very humiliating about him saying I hadn’t been hot enough to fuck before the makeover. Especially in front of Cassie.

  *

  THAT DATE WAS ONE OF the strangest experiences of my life. I felt like I was a different person, like I was locked inside of someone else’s body. I didn’t look like me, and I didn’t act like me either. It was surreal.

  Rob had a town car with a driver pull around to the front of the building to meet us. I wondered vaguely how I’d ever be able to get home. Cassie said she’d taken my things down to my car, but I suddenly realized that my things included my car keys, my cell phone, and my wallet. If I’d felt vulnerable in this new outfit, looking like a new woman, I felt positively naked without my cell, my keys and my wallet. I was completely at Rob’s mercy without those things.

  A shudder of apprehension came over me as I stepped into the car.

  “Rob,” I said. “I need to get my things from my car.”

  “Trust me,” he said, “you won’t need a thing, Lacey. Not the way you look tonight. I’ll be happy to pay your way.”

  “I don’t even have my ID.”

  “You don’t need it.”

  I nodded. I know this sounds difficult to believe, but at that moment, I didn’t feel like I could really make a fuss. I felt somehow beholden to Rob. He’d spent all this money transforming me into his dream date, and I felt as if that made me owe him something, like I shouldn’t be rude.

  The thing was, I heard all the time about terrible things happening to women when they allowed themselves to get into compromising situations. Wasn’t this exactly one of those situations? I mean, the girls who got in trouble usually looked exactly the way I did, with a sexy ass, huge breasts, perfect hair, and no fucking clue where they were going and who they were going with.

  The car had a minibar in the back and Rob opened a bottle of champagne. He handed me a glass and then poured one for himself.

  “Relax, Lacey,” he said, “you’re going to have a great night. You’re going to see how much fun a girl can have when she dresses and acts the way men actually like.”

  I felt an intense urge to fling my champagne in Rob’s face. Who did he think he was, telling women how they should act and dress? There was more to women’s existence than pleasing men.

  But yet again, all I did was smile and nod. I took a long drink of the champagne and held my glass out to him for a refill. He liked that. He smiled as he poured my drink, and then his hand came to rest on my thigh.

  I wasn�
�t sure how I felt about that. Rob was controlling everything, from where we were going and what we would do, to how I dressed, to the fact that I didn’t have my phone on me. I was completely under his control and I realized that this was how women too often allowed themselves to be.

  I began to have terrible thoughts of where he might be taking me. I mean, what really could I have done if the driver took the freeway out of the city and brought us to some cabin in the woods? What if Rob had something really terrible planned for me? I couldn’t call for help. I couldn’t fight him and the driver. I couldn’t outrun them in my two-thousand-dollar heels.

  When the car pulled up outside one of the most exclusive nightclubs in the entire city, I almost cried in relief. And that’s saying a lot, because I don’t even like nightclubs. I find them intimidating. All the sexy women, the girls who are willing to go farther than me, work harder, to win their man. I’d always felt out of my depth at clubs like that, but this time I was just glad Rob hadn’t taken me into the woods to murder me.

  *

  THERE WAS A LONG LINE waiting to get into the club, girls in expensive dresses that barely covered their asses and tits and left nothing to the imagination. The guys looked like they worked out at the gym seven days a week, muscles rippling under their bright shirts. I saw one guy with thick, strong arms who looked out of place in the line of jocks of bros and he reminded me intensely of Grant.

  Grant.

  What I wouldn’t have done to see him right then and there. I’d have run to him and jumped into his arms. I’d have forgotten all my pride, all my dignity, and I’d have told him to take me home.

  This scene with Rob wasn’t for me. It wasn’t the kind of girl I was. I already knew. What he wanted was a supermodel bimbo who would talk like he wanted, act like he wanted, and do what he wanted. That wasn’t me. He’d made me look the part, but there was no way he could change the person I was inside. Or was there?

  One of the club security guards came over to our car and held the door as we climbed out. A photographer from a gossip website flashed his camera at me as I walked past the line, Rob to my left and the security guard to my right.