Chapter Four

By the time she arrived home that night from work she was kind of exhausted. Her day had been so busy she’d nearly forgotten about Ryker and what his whole deal was until she sat down to look at takeout menus. There were a lot of things she was good at in the business world but it had never left her with time to learn how to cook. She had a luxury penthouse where she lived, in the city. It was within walking distance to her job (should she ever want to do that and on nice days she did). The only staff she ever had was a cleaning service that came once a week and whoever it was who stocked her fridge and cupboards with food. She did hire professional chefs for dinner parties or any event she threw there but she didn’t have one on call all the time. She didn’t see the point when takeout food was quick and easy or she could always just microwave herself some soup. She wasn’t that much of a picky eater and she preferred western cuisine far more than anything Japanese. Her stomach growled as she thought about the last time she had a good cheeseburger. It had been months ago when she was in New York visiting Leila and taking care of some business at the DTI headquarters on the east coast of the states. There was one on the west coast as well, it was in downtown L.A. She guessed maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to keep up a relationship with Ryker since she always had excuses to travel to various countries.

Her phone rang, knocking her out of her little daydream about good American food and secondarily, Ryker. She pulled it from the pocket of her blazer and set it on the black marble countertop in the kitchen to answer, putting it on speaker. Since it wasn’t a number she recognized (nor did she have already programmed in her phone) she answered in Japanese.

“Uh…Rika?” It was Ryker’s very confused voice on the other end.

“Oh, hi there.” She laughed, speaking in English, “Sorry, I didn’t know this number and we are in Japan so…”

“Makes sense. You’ll probably catch me answering in Swedish from time to time. I know how it is.” He replied, “You mentioned something about drinks or dinner…” He was right, she had said something about getting together and it had been her little test to see how bad he wanted it. He was to call her and he did, ironically right when she was looking for food to order.

“Why don’t you come here? I mean, if you feel comfortable. We can order out.” She said, “I’ll treat.”

“You don’t cook?”

“Do you?”

“Not anything more complicated than cereal or soup.” He laughed.

“I’m kind of the same.” She said, “But, there are a ton of takeout places around here that are fast and good. I’m sure we can find you something you like. If you haven’t already eaten that is.”

“No, it’s why I called. I was hoping to eat with you, maybe get local cuisine or something I’ve never had before.” He said. It made sense, since she had lived most of her life in Tokyo she knew all the good spots and bad ones. Though she was in a bit of a rut ordering from the same ten or so places over and over again they all had extensive menus and amazing food. They were places that a guy like him would probably not find on his own and if he did, he probably wouldn’t find anyone who would speak English to him.

“Smart.” She said, “Well just text me your hotel information and I can have an E-car sent to pick you up.”

“Are you sure you want to pay for-”

“My city, my treat. Just remember that when I come visit wherever it is in Sweden you hale from.” She said, he laughed again and her phone buzzed with a text message alert. She switched over to look at it and found his hotel room and address. She assumed that the number he had used to call her from the phone in his room as it had a Tokyo area code. She would hopefully be changing that soon and getting his personal number, if things went as well as she anticipated during his dinner visit.

“Fair enough, but I’d rather treat you if we are ever out in L.A. I’m not sure you’d be very fond of traditional Swedish cuisine.” He replied. She snickered as she switched to the app she used for E-cars and started to enter in the data for his location. She opted for a luxury cab because it was larger, nicer, and would be more comfortable for him to sit in than one of the eco E-cars that ran throughout the city.

“I’m an adventurous eater but nothing about Swedish cuisine sounds appealing to me. No offense.” She said.

“None taken, trust me. I prefer American food much more even if it’s almost blasphemy to admit that.” He replied.

“Then we are on the same page with that. Give me a pizza or cheeseburger any day of the week.” She told him and finished the process to send a car to him with the push of a button on the app before her. “Car is on the way, the ETA is about ten or so minutes. It says it’ll take about fifteen to get to my place because of traffic. I’ll see you soon then?”

“Sounds good.” He replied and hung up. She smiled and walked over to the wine cooler built into the island counter of her kitchen. From there she pulled a nice bottle of red wine that she’d been saving for a special occasion. After opening it she grabbed two glasses from the rack hanging above and added a bit of wine in each. That would give it sufficient time to breathe before Ryker arrived. Leaving them in place, she hurried towards the stairs and up to the bedroom, she needed to shower and change into something much more appealing before he arrived.

*****

When she heard the intercom start ringing she walked over to it and looked at the security camera to see who was there. Though she wasn’t expecting anyone other than Ryker she didn’t want to let a complete stranger into the building, but it was him. He was holding a bottle of champagne. She smiled, even though she couldn’t see the label on it she assumed it would be nice and she pressed the button to open the door for him. He pulled it open and waved at the camera as he passed by it, out of sight and into the nearby lobby. They would direct him on how to get up to the penthouse suite where she lived. After unlocking the door and opening it a crack so he knew he was welcome to just come on in if he wanted she went to the kitchen to grab her glass of wine.

She’d gotten changed into a red silk negligee that was so short it was almost more of a shirt than a nightgown. Under that she wore no bra but a pair of matching silk panties and garter belt. With that she’d pulled on black thigh high silk stockings and slipped into a pair of black stiletto heels. Then she put her robe on. It was a kimono inspired design, also silk, completely black with red embroidered flowers entangled around it. It was tied at the front but left a bit loose up top to give some teasing imagery underneath for what might be to come later that evening. She absolutely wanted to give him the message that she was ready to play but did not want him to think that he was in control of her. It didn’t seem that he wanted to be in control to begin with, but with men like him it was hard to tell. Either he had the fetish for powerful women because he liked to submit or because he liked to break them. Both ideas intrigued her but she had never found anyone she felt comfortable submitting to. Even if she wasn’t opposed to the experience, it had yet to happen and she didn’t think Ryker would be the first but only time would tell with that.

“Hello?” He called out from the front door. She came around the corner to see him, taking a sip of wine as she did. He smiled as he poked his head inside and let himself into the foyer. She motioned for him to take his shoes off which he did, and it left him in his socks. He looked at the wrack of slippers across from where he stood, they were meant for house guests after all but it was Japan and he was over six feet tall. She didn’t have anything close to what his size would be. “So should I cram my feet into something that doesn’t fit or-”

“Socks are fine,” She laughed, “Remind me to pick up a larger pair that might actually fit you for next time.”

“You already think there will be a next time?” He asked, coming towards her and stopping mere inches from where she stood, looking up at him with her wine glass in hand. She smiled and took another sip before running her free hand over his chest and the three buttons of the black waistcoat he was wearing. He hadn’t worn a blazer making the look a bit more casual but she hungered for him anyway. Men in perfectly tailored waistcoats always got her going for some reason. It was the perfect look in her mind.

“I know there will be.” She told him then turned and started to head back towards the kitchen knowing that he would follow her. When she got there, she grabbed the second glass of wine from the island counter as he set the bottle of champagne nearby. She held the glass towards him and he took it.

“To new beginnings?” He offered a toast, lifting the glass slightly.

“To new beginnings.” She agreed and chimed her glass against his. She took another sip of her wine but he downed what was in his glass in one gulp. To be fair, the thing hadn’t been nearly full; it was just supposed to be a taste as she didn’t know ultimately if he would like it or not.

“Good wine,” He said. “So…about dinner.”

“We can order anything you like.” She said and pulled her phone from the pocket of the robe she was wearing. She unlocked it and turned it towards him, the app for delivery services was already up and running. “Take your pick, don’t worry about price.”

“What if I’d like to start with you?” He asked, as he took the phone from her hands. It was cute how they were so huge the phone looked tiny as he held it but in her own hands it looked huge. She was loving the size difference between them, it would make things all the better when he ended up on his knees begging for mercy. She was guessing that if he were to kneel it would bring him down to almost her exact height or just below it. He was definitely over a foot taller than she was.

“You do realize that what you want is very different from what you need and certainly not nearly as close as what you’re gonna get, right?” She asked, “Now, be a good boy and order some food. Just, no sushi for me. I don't like it.”

“No sushi? But-”

“But what? I’m Japanese. I know I’m Japanese. Not all Japanese people like sushi. No one said you couldn’t have it.” She reached up and patted him on the cheek and headed over to the couch to sit down. It took him a few moments to process what she had just said (she assumed) before she heard him coming in the same direction. He took a seat next to her so she could see the phone as he was looking through places to eat at.

“You choose, you’d know the places around here better than me anyway.” He said, holding the phone out towards her. She arched her brow and took it from him. It was hard to tell if he was just trying to be a people pleaser or skip right to the sex he thought he was going to have but it wasn’t too hard for her to choose pizza. She got something a bit more traditionally Japanese than American, figuring that he would appreciate the experience even if all she really wanted was a burger and some fries. He could deal with eel and mayo pizza. It was her favorite when she was in Japan anyway. She turned the phone off and placed it on the coffee table along with her glass of wine.

“Pizza, it’ll be here in thirty minutes or less. The place is close.” She explained and stood up. “Let me show you around while you’re here and feel free to make yourself at home if you want. My place is your place, if you make a mess the cleaning service will take care of it. Within reason.” She chuckled, but she was happy with the service she had found because they didn’t ask questions and they didn’t spread her business around. Something which was important for someone who was as kinky as her. It meant that things could get messy from time to time and she absolutely loved it.

“I can tell this is a penthouse, it’s amazing by the way.” He said as he followed after her.

“Thank you. I oversaw the decor myself but I also hired a decorator I liked so I guess I can’t take too much credit for it.” She said as they passed by the kitchen to an area that was far more like a bar and lounge. The floor hardwood, the furniture spread out with black leather covering. Behind the bar were mirrors and glass shelves backlit with ultraviolet bulbs making it seem to glow. It was supposed to mimic having her own private night club and at times it was exactly that depending on who she had to entertain.

“Woah,” He said once he saw the room with the lights dimmed to the proper level to make things seem as if they were floating on the shelves behind the black wood bar. The stools were covered with a blood red leather and attached to the floor. Two sections of the wall in the corner were all glass and overlooked the rest of downtown Tokyo. “Club Takashi I take it?”

“Oh yeah and shit can get wild up in here depending on the night, or the mood I’m in.” She said, turning her head to look up at him. “Which reminds me, we probably need a safeword. What do you usually use?”

“I don’t, I’m usually a dominant.”

“But you sought me out? Did you expect me to submit?” She laughed, the idea was quite absurd. She was no stranger to fetish men (or women) who got off on the power she held but it was rare she came across anyone who believed they were going to get something different than a dominant.

“I was hoping for at least a bit of a fight.” He shrugged. She laughed and turned around completely, putting her hands up on his chest. He was muscular, something that wasn’t easy to see because of his tall, lean form but as she placed her hands against him she could feel it. His pecs, his abs, her fingers traced downwards towards his pants.

“What if I told you to get the fuck out of my house instead?” She asked, glancing up at him. He grabbed her wrists in his hands tightly and she gasped. He started to walk forward which only forced her to walk backwards, stumbling over her heels until she fell backwards with a loud cry, landing hard on one of the leather chairs that sat on the outskirt of the dance floor. He got over her, straddling her but still standing. One hand switched to hold both of her wrists for just a moment before his free hand snaked back to grab her tightly braided bun like a handle.

“You won’t.” He hissed, looking right into her eyes as he said it. She was beyond mad, furious even, and yet she knew he was right. Well, if this was how it was going to be and he wanted a fight then there would be one. She wouldn’t hold back for him either. He would learn very quickly that challenging Rika Takashi was something one shouldn’t enter into lightly and by the time he left the next morning it would certainly be a lesson well learned.