...nothing?

When the email timer finally hit zero, and the numbers were replaced by the word "Sent" on the screen, Ali felt her stomach drop. Something that felt like anxious dread and something else that felt like eager anticipation played a game of tug of war with her emotions.

A second timer appeared on her computer screen: the thirty minutes that Ali would remain bound before the timed lock would open and she could free herself. Thirty agonizingly long minutes. That email was out there, and the time was already after six in the morning. A time when some people were actually awake. He could be looking at her pictures right now, or watching the sex tape, or that startlingly realistic confession video that basically begged him to come get her.

Ali pulled against her chains. She'd already proven it was useless, but she had nothing else to do. She didn't want this; no reasonable woman wanted this for real. It was supposed to be a harmless fantasy on her computer but somehow it had gotten very real, very quickly. And yet she was so turned on by the prospect of that man—basically a stranger—looking at all those pictures of her. She knew that if he used that leverage, to threaten to actually show it to someone she knew, that she would crumble immediately.

She whined softly into her gag as fifteen minutes went by, feeling like another in a long line of eternities.

The timer counted down. Ten minutes, then five, then two.

The earliest hints of morning began to light the sky, and Ali found herself focused on exactly what she would do once the lock came off. Her heart raced during the final seconds of her bondage. Then, finally, she heard a mechanical beep and a click, and her hands were free.

Ripping the cuffs from her wrists and ankles, she reached up and found an easy release for the collar. It came away with little effort. She stood, prying the ball gag out of her teeth to fall around her neck as she darted to the computer.

It didn't take her long to find the files that had been uploaded. She deleted them. The email was supposed to contain a simple link and a password, nothing else. None of her personal information, none of her "**** material" as the site had called it.

For good measure, she sent a request to cancel the email, but those things never really worked. With any luck, Sean's email system would honor it if the email was unread, but that wasn't important. What was important was that the files were safely destroyed.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, but her heart was still pounding, hands shaking. She was still running on adrenaline and an enormous amount of unfulfilled sexual energy. Besides, there was no way to know for sure if he had or hadn't seen them before she could get to them.

Still anxious, Ali **** a nervous laugh. "Well, I guess that's that." She looked back at the corner where she'd been bound. The chains and cuffs were still there, tangible evidence that something unexplainable had happened, even if there was no way anyone would ever believe her. She pulled the ball gag off of her neck, setting it on the table.

A yawn cracked her jaw, and Ali suddenly felt the full weight of her exhaustion. Up all night, hours spent tense and anxious.

A sudden loud noise sent a jolt of panic though her before she realized it was only her phone's alarm telling her it was time to wake up. She shook her head. "I'm probably going to have to call in; there's no way I'm surviving a whole day like this."

Snatching her phone to silence the irritating alarm, she typed a quick message to her boss, knowing he'd give her hell for calling in on such late notice, but she worded it as strongly as she could and called it an emergency.

Then she muted all notifications, plugged her phone in to charge in the kitchen, and dragged her exhausted body down the hall to her bed, where she jumped under the covers to curl into a little ball. It didn't take her long to feel the pull of sleep. She just hoped she didn't dream of sex and bondage all night.