The Desert Oasis Nursery and Garden Center had been in business for over two decades before Ashi came to work there. It had once been a small cottage styled house. What was once a living room was now the main part of the shop with it's register stationed just outside of the office, which was once the only bedroom the cottage held. The backyard was no more, having been taken over by an attached greenhouse, closed off by a sliding glass door.

The owners had taken a liking to her and she showed them that she understood just as much about plants as they did and that she was more than capable of managing the place for them.

As she sent their newest hire out on her lunch break, Ashi placed a few potted plants and saplings that someone had left on the counter unto her metal cart and started to wheel them out to the greenhouse section of the shop when the bell for the front door went off. She turned and saw a familiar face enter and make a beeline towards her.

"Jack?" she asked, confused to see him there. "What you doing here right now? I thought- OH!" She was suddenly silenced as he wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her firmly. The sensation of his lips upon hers and his hands caressing her body were too much and she felt herself melting in his arms and her senses coming undone.

It barely registered in her mind when he lifted her off the ground and made her sit on the counter. He peeled her out of her blouse and her bra as if they were nothing and ravished her breasts with his hands and mouth. Ashi couldn't remember the last time having her breasts touched felt this good and couldn't help but moan in delight and pleasure as he sucked and squeezed them.

She felt his hands push her skirt up to her waist to reveal her womanhood.

"No panties today?" He asked her in his deep, sensual voice. She could hear the arousal in his voice and it just made her want more of him. She wasn't quite sure when he had removed his clothes and she did not care.

"You wicked woman." He then brushed his hand against her mound and it was enough to make her throw herself backwards so that she laid on her back. She had no clue as to how a hardwood counter felt so warm and soft but it was the furthest thing from her mind.

She spread her legs and begged him to get inside her as he ran his fingers along her most private place.

"As you wish, beloved," he whispered to her.

Ashi suddenly heard someone knock on the door to the office and call her name. It startled her so badly, she nearly fell out of her chair.

She had been in there to take care of putting in special orders for seeds that they didn't usually carry and had started daydreaming. Jack was not there and she was fully clothed, panties included.

She couldn't help feeling disappointed for being snapped back into reality.

Ashi stood and opened the door to be met by a young black woman in a purple dress. On the other side of the counter was a customer with a ceramic pot and a bag of soil on the counter.

"What's the matter, Clover?"

"I think something's wrong with the scanner. I can't get it to work," she said.

Ashi took a look at the store's hand-held scanner and saw that there wasn't any charge on it.

"The battery's dead. We're going to need to ring up the items manually until it finishes charging," she told her. Clover looked apprehensive.

"Don't worry. It's not hard. I'll show you what to do," she assured her.

After their customer left, Ashi looked at the clock and realized it was almost noon.

"Hey, Clover?" she said, picking up a basket of seeds someone had left behind. "Could you go put these back for me? After you finish, you can go take your lunch break."

"Sure," she said, taking the basket.

Ashi turned her attention to the flowers and gardening tools someone had left in a disorganized mess in a corner of the shop. She grabbed their metal cart from behind the counter and wheeled it over to the corner. She was vaguely aware of Clover dashing behind the counter to grab her purse as she did so.

"See you in an hour, Ashi," she said, heading for the door.

"See you later, Clover," Ashi called back.

Just as Clover neared the door, Jack walked inside looking rather distressed. Ashi watched he held the door open for her. After she'd left, he made a beeline for her.

"Jack? Are you okay?" she asked.

He made a slight bow to her. "I am sorry for showing up unannounced but I didn't know of another relatively private garden space close to the university that might allow this. Would it be alright if I meditated for about 15 minutes in your greenhouse?"

"Uh, sure. Go for it," she answered, surprised and a little confused.

"Thank you, my love," he said, kissing her forehead. He then walked straight for the open door of the greenhouse and disappeared inside.

Ashi wasn't completely sure what could have brought this on but she knew if Jack felt the need to find somewhere to meditate, it usually meant he was incredibly stressed out by something. She finished placing the flowers and gardening tools on her cart. Then, she walked back into the office and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge.

As she wheeled her cart into the greenhouse, she spotted Jack sitting with his legs crossed in a corner with his eyes closed and his hands on his knees. She placed the water bottle next to his left hand and went to work putting all the plants back.

Barely five minutes had passed when Jack got up and apologized for not offering to help her.

"Don't worry about it," she said, putting back some pansies. "Are you ready to talk about what brought on the need to meditate?"

"It's… rather embarrassing," he said shyly.

Ashi put down the zinnias in their spot and folded her hands in front of her.

Jack sighed and began, "Apparently, one of my students has a crush on me."

Ashi raised an eyebrow.

"Okay?"

"That's not the embarrassing part. Angus was in my class, helping me with a presentation today."

Ashi thought for a moment, as if trying to recall something.

"Angus is the big red-headed Scottish guy, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, just checking."

"He asked her what was going on with her makeup, and pointed out that she had "love you" written on her eyelids. He then started laughing and saying that she had a huge crush on me. I was planning to correct him on what I thought was a misunderstanding, but then she ran out of the room crying. He told some of the other faculty and they've all been teasing me with these weird, confusing comments ever since and they keep calling me 'Dr. Jones' for some reason."

Ashi suppressed a laugh. Jack couldn't help scowling.

"It's not funny, Ashi."

"I know it's not, but..."

"But what?"

"You're only allowed to be Indy if I get to be your Marion."

Jack only stood there in silence.

"Alright, I give up. Why does everyone keep calling me that?" he asked, clearly exasperated.

Ashi was silent for a moment.

"Wait, have you never seen Raiders of the Lost Ark?" she asked. "Or... any of the Indiana Jones movies?"

"I know of them. I don't understand why everyone keeps insisting on calling me that."

"Ah, okay. In the first movie, we learn that Indiana's a professor of archeology and during one of his lectures, it's implied that several of his female students have the hots for him and one of them-"

"Wrote something on her eyelids?" he finished.

Ashi nodded her head. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not going to hear the end of this for while, am I?"

"Probably not. For what it's worth, I'm sorry work is driving you nuts," Ashi said as she placed a hanging pot of begonias back on its rack.

"Honestly, this isn't the worst teasing I've ever gotten. Another teacher said something disgusting about it and I needed to escape before I wound up losing my temper," he continued, pushing the cart for her as she moved around the greenhouse.

"Who's being a dick? Angus?"

"No, one of the others," he corrected. "Although, Angus has started calling me 'Junior' on the basis of 'he's Scottish and therefore has to do it.'"

Ashi snorted. "Well, just tell him he's not allowed to unless he can crash a plane using only an umbrella and a flock of birds."

"Is that another Indiana Jones thing?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't mean to keep laughing."

He sighed, "Honestly, I can't help feeling sorry for that poor girl. I mean, she was in tears. I hope this doesn't discourage her from coming to class."

"Anyway, I hope you're having a less stressful day than me," he finished.

"My day's been pretty slow," Ashi said, placing the last of the plants back. "It's really weird. We're usually busier on Fridays."

"I do apologize for showing up unexpected," he apologized again. "May I make amends by taking you out to lunch today?"

"Sure, but we need to wait until Clover gets back at One," she answered.

"At One?" he repeated with concern. "Oh, bother. That's not good. I have another class today. Waiting until then would put me too close to being late."

"Oh, alright. How about we meet up for dinner instead?" Ashi asked, sweetly. "We could eat wherever you like."

Jack thought for a minute and then cupped her cheek. "Why don't we cook at your place? I'll bring all the ingredients we need."

"Really?" Ashi asked with surprise in her voice. "I thought after what happened last time, you wouldn't want me anywhere near a kitchen."

"I will stay in the kitchen with you this time, so we'll be cooking together," he stated, kissing her temple.

The rest of Ashi's day became alarmingly busy, ending with her feeling sore from moving several bags of soil for someone who was just getting started on building a vegetable garden.

As soon as Ashi returned to her small studio apartment, she was very quickly reminded how messy she tended to be, seeing most of her dirty laundry scattered over most of the place, along with dirty dishes and her unmade bed.

She slipped out of her flats and put on her house shoes. Then she grabbed her laundry basket and started to scurry to try to get her space at least presentable. As she bent over, her back decided to remind her just how much she had moved over the last few hours.

She went to her dresser and pulled out her blue corset with a built in bodice. She took off her blouse and bra and changed into it, snapping the fasteners together in the front and then adjusting the strings in the back. She felt near instant relief from the support it provided.

While it prevented her from her usual action of bending over, it did not impede her progress to tidy up.

She heard a knock on the door just as she put her dishes in the sink.

"Coming," she called. She looked through her peephole and saw Jack looking around with a paper grocery bag in his hands.

She opened the door for him. His attention turned towards her as she greeted him and he nearly dropped his bag. She was about to ask what was wrong when he spoke first.

"That's a… very lovely garment, but it appears to be made from some type of satin. I thought you said it was made from leather."

"What are you-" she froze as the thought suddenly occurred to her that she had answered the door wearing one of her corsets.

She looked down at her clothes and back at him.

"Um, this is actually one of four corsets that I have," she informed him.

"Oh," he said. "Uh… Am I to see the other two before seeing the leather one?"

They stood in silence for a moment, and then Ashi said, "Okay, I'm going to be honest with you. It wasn't my intention to seduce you tonight, but… fuck it. I'm just gonna roll with this."

She then grabbed his tie and led him into her apartment, shutting the door behind him.

"Good heavens, my love," he said with a blush growing across his face. "Wait, if you didn't intend to become intimate, then why…?"

"My corsets do more than enhance my figure. They also provide really good back support after a very busy afternoon," she informed him, pulling him downwards with his tie to kiss his lips.

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that your back hurts," he said. "May I offer a massage?"

"Let's put that bag in the fridge first," she answered with a smile.

Jack quickly placed the grocery bag in the refrigerator and turned his attention to Ashi's shoulders, gently rubbing her from there to her lower back. She couldn't help moaning from his touch. As he continued, Ashi closed her eyes and pressed herself against him.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Something's poking m-"

She stopped herself finishing that sentence and looked down to see a very tight tent in the front of his pants. She then looked back up to him with a smile on her face.

"Would you like some help with that?" she asked, pointing to his erection.

He was silent for a moment, his eyes looking away from her for a brief second as if he were contemplating something.

"W-would you like to try your… kinky business?" he asked.

Ashi let out a laugh.

"'My kinky business?'" she repeated.

"I wasn't sure what else to call it," he commented.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she apologized. "It just sounds funny when you say it."

"Well, regarding your kink, I have been researching the books and sites that you pointed out to me… maybe watched a little porn for it."

Ashi feigned a gasp, as if the idea scandalized her. In honesty, she didn't hold any issue with him looking at porn. In fact, there were occasions where they had watched it together. Most notably, the first time they had fooled around together and their one-year anniversary, which was also when the "spank me" incident occurred.

"Well, how do feel about it?" she asked.

"I think… maybe we could try something light?"

"'Light' how?" she asked.

"Perhaps just… try it with one of us being tied to the bed first, and… see what we think after wards?"

Ashi raised her eyebrows.

"I could go for that," she agreed.

"Of course, we would need a way to bind one of us first," he continued.

"That's not an issue. I have something we can use in my collection," she stated.

Jack's features noticeably morphed into something between concern and surprise.

"Don't worry," she said, placing a hand on his cheek. "It's nothing scary… or at least, I hope you don't think it's scary."

She took his hand and guided him to the side of her bed. She then bent at her knees to kneel on the floor as she pulled a large shoebox out from under her bed that seemed to have been made for boots.

"Please, have a seat," she said, motioning to the bed. He followed her request and she placed the box next to him. She then pulled herself up and sat across from him, on the other side of the box.

She pulled away the lid to reveal a few books and a long, red silk rope. She watched his expressions, trying to gauge his reaction.

He was blushing, but his eyes held curiosity.

"May I?" he asked, holding his hand over the open box. She nodded.

He first picked up the books, seemingly to examine the titles. A few were of erotic comics that she read online that focused on BDSM relationships, others held illustrations she was fond of.

"I mostly just use those books as porn," she told him.

"I surmised as much. Oh!" he exclaimed as he came to a book that featured a handsome woman in a red kimono posing with another woman in bondage.

"'The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage,'" he read the title out loud. "I don't recall you recommending this one to me."

"Oh, the focus of that one is on techniques. I want to make sure you were actually on board with actually doing it first. That's why I sent you towards books and sites that focused on-"

"What healthy BDSM looked like?" He finished for her, putting down the books. "It's understandable."

"Are you?" she asked.

He offered a small smile and picked up the rope from the box.

"I shall follow your lead, my love," he said, handing it to her. She took the rope from him, her heart pounding at what was about to happen.

"What would you like us to do?" he asked.

Ashi looked at him, the rope, and her bed. After a moment, she said, "I think I want to tie you up."

"Oh, no! Wait! W-we still need a safe-word!" she quickly added, mentally hitting herself for forgetting something so critical.

"Very well. We can decide on that now," he said. "I know 'red' is used often. Is there a particular word you want to use?"

"Well, you're the one getting tied up," she told him. "What would be easy for you to remember?"

He thought for a moment.

"How does 'onion' sound?" he asked. He suddenly greeted with a very intense glare.

"Um… have I said something wrong?" he asked confused.

The glare vanished, as though she'd suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, uh… sorry, no. Actually, it's perfect. In fact, I'm definitely going to stop if you start talking about onions."

"Why?"

"I used to get called 'The Angry Onion' when I was in high school."

"Why on earth would you get called that?"

"I got teased because of the way I did my hair at the time. I hated that nickname," she said. "So, yeah. I'm definitely going to stop if you start talking about onions."

He looked at her sadly. Then, he got up and hugged her. "I'm sorry you got teased. We can pick something different if you don't want to use 'onion.'"

"No. I'll be okay with it," she told him. "And thank you," she added, kissing his cheek.

She stood and moved the box back under the bed.

"Shall we start?" she asked.

"Yes. I… suppose I should undress then," he said, starting to undo his tie. She stopped him.

"Keep you clothes on and lay down on the bed," she instructed him.