I slowly begin to stop the movement of my fingers as I try to keep up with my heartbeat. I feel Christian turning my chair and only then do I open my eyes.

—How do you feel?

—More satisfied than yesterday. —I tell him with a smile on my face.

—I guess so.

Then he does something unexpected. Take my hand by the wrist and pull the fingers out from inside. And under my watchful eye he takes them to his mouth and sucks them out. The contact of his warm mouth on my fingers makes me moan without being able to avoid it. As he sucks on my fingers, he does not take his eyes off me.

—You taste delicious. —he says to me as he takes his fingers out of his mouth and slides his tongue across his lips. —I better go, Elena must be wondering where I am.

He lets go of my hand and separates from me. I don't know why I look down at his pants and notice the huge bump on the front.

—Don't you need help with your problem? —I tell him with a smile.

Christian stops and turns to me. He takes his hand towards the crotch and accommodates the erection that is hidden inside the pants.

—It's not the first time I've been in this situation, I'll see you later.

—Won't you give me back my panties? —I make him stop before opening the door.

He looks at me with a smile on his face.

—I'll give them back to you later. —he says to me before he opens the door and disappears.

Was he going out with Elena?

Damn it, what did I just do!

He just left with a huge erection that will surely not go unnoticed by anyone. And he's going out with my boss. The same one who was smiling at him this morning. I'd better forget about everything and concentrate on what's important. The meeting with Men Fitness.

I think that in the end the meeting will have to be without panties. But I need to at least get clean. I peek out the door of my office briefly. There's no one outside. So I hurry up and head full speed to the bathroom. Luckily I don't cross paths with anyone

I get out of the bathroom in time, pick up my things in my office and head to the meeting room where the presentation will be.

The Men Fitness team arrives on time. And I give them my presentation exactly as I prepared it, showing them all the candidates, except Christian. Almost an hour later they are still debating among all the candidates.

—These two seem to be excellent. —says one of them showing the two pictures of the finalists.

—Well, they're definitely the best of the bunch. —says the woman confirming it, but grimacing unconvincingly.

—But we must choose only one. —says the third person examining the two files.

—I have another candidate who was not on the list and appeared at the last minute. —I tell them by having all three of them stare at me.

—Well, if it's better than these two, we'll keep that one. —The one who has the files in his hands tells me as he throws them to one end of the table.

I look for the photos I have of Christian and show them. Quickly they start passing the photos around and are amazed at what I am showing them.

—Christian O'Neal? —exclaims one of them in amazement.

—I didn't know he was back in the sport?

—I didn't even know he was in such good shape. —she says as I can see her devouring the photo with his eyes.

—He has not returned to sports, at least not actively. —I answer them while the three of them stare at me.

—Do you know him? —the woman is curious.

—He is my kick boxing instructor. —I answer while they stare at me.

—I think we have found the perfect candidate. —she answers as she looks at the others who nod in agreement with a smile.

—We will prepare everything for the interview and the photo session. —he says as they stand up. —We will contact you.

Everyone stands up and picks up their papers and notes. Just like Christian's photos. Before leaving the door one of them stops and stares at me.

—Is this the first project Elena delegates to you?

—Yes.

—I think Elena has made a wise decision. —she tells me before she leaves.

I don't know if she means just this project or something else. But I smile as I start to collect all the files. I'm just finishing up when the door to the room opens and Elena comes in.

—Everything okay with the meeting?

—Excellent, they liked the proposal I made. —I answer with excitement.

—Christian? —she asks, smiling.

—Yes, they will call me when they have everything ready for the interview and the photo session.

—This will be a great promotion for Christian. It might even get him to compete again.

I hadn't thought of that. I don't even know if he's interested in competing again.

—Ask Christian to take you home.

—Thank you.

Elena leaves and leaves me alone with my thoughts. I finish packing up and organizing everything before I leave. As soon as I see the car I remember that I am without panties and that Christian has them. I open the back door and get into the car.

—Hello Ana. How did the meeting go?

—Excellent. They decided to use your proposal.

—Great. Someone owes me a huge favor. —he says with a smile on his face.

—I'll make it up to you later.

—Where can I take you? —he says, turning forward and starting the car.

I tell him the address of the depot. I need to get my car back before I go to the doctor's appointment. Christian quietly takes me to the depot.

—Can I have my panties back? —I ask him when he parks in front of the depot.

—Do you need them?

—Do you want someone to notice that I don't have them on? —I ask him as he turns towards me.

He smiles at me. He puts a hand inside the jacket and holds it out to me. He had them on top the whole time and didn't give them to me? I quickly take them out of his hand and place them under his watchful eye.

—Thank you. —I tell him with a big smile before getting out of the car and saying goodbye.

I have to fill out several papers before I can get my car out. But finally I get it back. So I make my way to the doctor's office in plenty of time. By the time I park at the office, it's lunchtime. My phone starts ringing as I head out for a burger. It's Kate. I forgot to mention that we weren't having lunch together. She must be a hell of a woman.

—Where are you?

—I'm sorry, I've already left. Elena gave me the rest of the day off. —I tell her as I sit at a secluded table after I place my order.

—How did the meeting go?

—Everything went perfectly.

—I don't forget that we have a pending conversation you and I.

—Oh, yeah. About what?

—Don't play dumb with me, Ana. About last night.

—Last night? —I'm trying to play dumb.

I don't want to remember last night.

—What did he mean last night that there would be consequences?

—Kate, it's kind of complicated. —they put my order in front of me and I start eating slowly.

—What's complicated?

—I don't think this is a conversation we can have on the phone. —I tell her honestly.

— I will prepare dinner and wait for you at 6:00 pm. —she says to me before hanging up.

I know she won't forget. And neither will I. Christian has told me that I can tell her anything I want. Maybe she has some advice regarding what I'm doing with my life.

While I'm finishing lunch I pass a message to Christian telling him not to wait for me for dinner, that I'll do it with Kate. I wait for a while, but I don't get an answer to my message. I go to the office and spend part of the afternoon there. When I leave there, I go to the pharmacy and buy the birth control pills. It's still early, so I head over to the apartment. I take a long, extended bath. I shave my whole body and then leave in plenty of time for Elliot's apartment. On the way I fill up the car's gas tank.

It's 6:10 pm when I knock on the door of Elliot's apartment. Kate opens the door and looks at me from top to bottom.

—You're late. —she tells me by letting me in.

I go inside and drop down on the living room couch as she walks to the kitchen.

—Dinner will be a little late. —she says as I watch her pour two glasses of wine and walk towards me. I take the glass she offers me and take a long sip of the delicious wine. —This gives us enough time to talk.

—Is Elliot coming to dinner? —I ask her as she drops to my side and crosses her legs on the sofa.

—He'll be here later. —she says as she stares at me. —Now, speaks up.

I take another sip of wine before I begin to answer her question.

—I have been lying to you for a long time.

—About what?

—About the time I have been without sex.

—Wasn't it a year?

—No. It was two.

—Two! Now I want all the details. What happened to make you go so long without sex?

—I got tired of the idiots I was dating not knowing how to give me an orgasm.

I can see Kate choke on the wine and start coughing. I put the glass on the coffee table and start punching her back while she continues to cough. I can't help but laugh as I watch her eyes begin to cry. When she has calmed down, I go back to get my glass of wine while she now looks at me in astonishment.

—You've never had an orgasm before! —she is stunned.

—Never provoked by a man.

—But you've had them with Christian.

—Christian is the first one I've met who has known how to provoke them. —I confess to her as I drink again.

— But what kind of idiots have you been with?

—With the normal ones. —I tell her by pausing before confessing the truth. —They're not really the ones with the problem, it's me. At least in part.

—Eh!

—I need more than penetration to reach orgasm and none of the idiots I was with understood that.

—But Christian does?

I let out a sigh before drinking again.

—Christian knows how to satisfy a woman. —I confess to being lost in thought. —In every way.

—What did he mean last night that there would be consequences?

—We have a strange arrangement.

—I thought you were in a relationship?

—I'm not going to have a relationship with anyone until I know my body perfectly. And Christian has shown me that I don't know myself sexually enough. —I confess to her as she raises her eyebrows in shock at what I'm telling her. —And he's teaching me to know myself before I start a relationship with someone.

—I know myself very well. —she admits with a mischievous smile.

—I imagine you've lost track of how many orgasms you've had in your life.

—Phew!

I'm discovering this for the first time. And I'm also discovering things about my body that I didn't know.

—That still doesn't answer the question. — I drink the rest of the wine from my glass.

—I'm going to need you to fill this out to answer you. —I tell her by showing her the empty glass.

She quickly gets off the couch and goes for the bottle of wine. She fills both glasses and leaves the bottle on the coffee table.

I drink while she stares at me.

—He is teaching me to know myself through BDSM.

This time she doesn't choke. Kate spits out the wine in her mouth. Luckily she doesn't do it to me.

—What, what! —she exclaims, shocked by my confession. —Tell me I didn't hear right?

But I don't answer her, I just look at her as I take another sip from my glass.

—Shit, Ana! You've gone crazy! —she shouts at me, getting up from the sofa and walking exasperatedly in front of me. —What did he do to you?

—Nothing I didn't want to.

—Ana, you have to be careful. I know how these kinds of relationships end.

—Kate. —I interrupt it with laughter. — I am not her submissive.

She stares at me without understanding anything.

—But you just said...

—Yes, I know what I said, but it mostly has to do with knowing myself, and with pleasure, and toys and possession. —I say lost in thought.

—Toys?

—I think I have talked too much. —the wine is taking effect, it's loosening my tongue.

—Well, keep talking, now it's getting interesting.

I tell Kate everything that has happened with Christian since I met him. And she does nothing but open her eyes in amazement while I tell her everything I have felt so far.

Our conversation is interrupted when Elliot arrives. And we quickly change the topic of conversation.

After dinner, I return to the apartment. Even though I left work early, I am exhausted. When I enter the apartment Christian is sitting on the couch. As soon as I close the door, he turns off the TV. He stares at me. I still don't understand why I feel this way every time he looks at me. My whole body shakes deliciously and I feel like I'm going to pass out any minute if he doesn't touch me.

All I can think about is wild and possessive sex. But so far there has been no passionate assault, he has not lost control unbridledly to the point of possessing me against the first surface he comes across. He has only been possessive once, when he kissed me. All the times we have had sex have been extremely calculated. Wild and exhausting, but calculated.

—Take off your clothes. —his voice brings me back to reality.

And I don't think twice before I blindly obey him.