Jessica packed every pair of pants into her suitcase. A pile of black and gray slacks littered her bed as she tried to unearth a wardrobe that won’t tempt her, to think about today’s session with that goddess. A mock laugh fell from her lips. She tossed a pair of old slacks into the open luggage. 

 

Session. 

So that’s what I’m calling it. Allowing myself to fantasize about a patient in my therapy room. 

 

She zipped the case closed with a curse. She has been attracted to patients before. As she admitted to Olivia once when they first started dating, she’d dealt with transference plenty…but never at this level. Never with this much intensity and temptation. And she has never submitted to those temptations; never allowed to happen what transpired in her mind during sessions in her office. She closed her eyes and fell to the bed. Her skin still tingled, still felt heated from the thought of her presents. She was more than tempted to stay lost in that moment of clarity, to risk too much…and that was the danger. 

 

An image appeared in her mind, then, suddenly…Marlena, with that beautiful smile of hers. 

 

Jessica froze. 

 

What the hell? 

She was her patient.

No.

 

In spite of the heat in the darkened bedroom, goosebumps sprang up on her arms. She tried to erase the thought, tried to shove it back to wherever it came from, but it was too late; the image was already branded onto her brain. A wave of feeling spiraled out from her gut and tore through the fibers of her muscles, set her groin pulsing with an intensity that bordered on pain. She massaged her temples, frantically trying to keep the thought at bay as much as possible. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed the image to go away. But instead of it fading, more came one after another, like a slideshow. 

 

Marlena throwing her head back in ecstasy. 

Jessica pressing her lips against Marlena's neck. 

Jessica sliding her hand up Marlena's breasts, touching her. 

The beautiful blond moaning. 

 

Jessica placed her palms to the fabric of her comforter and tried to catch her breath. The sound of her heart pounding in her ears was far louder than her breathing. 

 

The images kept coming—

 

Her eyes. 

Her mouth. 

Her legs.

 

The pulsing between her legs was unbearable. She put her hand there with the intent to stop it but it only made her hot. She gasped. 

 

Suddenly, a clear image, she was right there on the bed with her, all covered in droplets of sweat, white negligee clung to her wet skin. “Tell me what you want from me, Jess.” The imaginary woman asked. 

 

She wasn't there, she wasn't even near her, but she could definitely hear her voice. 

 

Jessica shut her eyes and opened the floodgates of her mind to a deluge of every fantasy she’d ever denied herself. With her eyes still closed, she whispered to herself: “Everything.” 

 

There was silence in the room except for the dull buzz of the laptop's fan.

“What do you mean by, ‘Everything’?” Marlena gave her a deadpan look.

“You don’t know?” Her pulse throbbed in her temples. Her eyes opened up quickly. 

She was alone. 

“Shit, girl, get it together” she raised from the bed. As if she wasn’t sitting there, the images would stop rushing in. That was why she was leaving early for New England. To put hundreds of miles between them and get this obsession over with. Her cell vibrated on her nightstand. She frowned at the phone before she moved over and grabbed it. “Dr. Jessica Boyd.” 

“Dr. Boyd. This is Dr. Marlena Evans. Do you have a moment to talk?” 

She strained. “I do, yes. How can I help you, Dr. Evans?”

“I just wanted to extend our therapy sessions to a couple of more meetings. You were right. I do need someone to listen to me for a change.” 

 

Shit. 

 

She could hear her smile. Jessica cleared her brown bangs from her eyes. “We all need that, Dr. Evans. No problem, I will do that.” 

“Marlena, please, call me Marlena. I’ll see you soon.”

The call ended. Her laptop rested at the foot of the bed. She pulled it toward her and flipped the screen close. There was no way she could concentrate on anything else tonight.

 

******

 

How many people can say they’ve looked into the eyes of a goddess? For most, that was never a reality to contend with. The first pair of eyes she remembered looking into harbored the soul of a goddess. The eyes she stared into now—that she could clearly discern as the deepest green-gold—stared back into her. Marlena’s knowing gaze reflected her truth, and every molecule of her body rebelled in denial, wanting to defiantly snuff out that truth. 

 

She doesn’t know… she can’t know. 

But paranoia is eating away her reasoning. 

 

“I just got my memory back, and even I am not sure, how I’m going to react to things …I saw the staircase this morning, and I had a flood of memories…and I realized that this was where I fell…I’m not sure that I can put it behind me and move on.” Marlena said, disturbing her thoughts. “Last time you said you feel you can’t stop running. Who are you running away from, Marlena?” She sat straighter, taking small, sharp breaths to ease the pressure in her back. 

 

Ever since her visit from the detective responsible for Marlena's kidnapping yesterday evening, she’d been in a full-scale flare-up. She adjusted her position again and said, “Yourself?” 

Marlena’s smile reached those golden eyes. “I remembered what caused my amnesia….I lost a baby... A baby that was founded by my ex-husband, not by John. Now that I realize how complicated my past was, I’m beginning to see how complicated my future with John is going to be, and I’m terrified….”

 

“This is classic PTSD, Marlena. But you already knew it.” Her lips pressed together. Marlena didn’t have to consider her answer for long. “I don't know why any of this happened.” 

Jessica shook her head. “That’s an automatic response. I think you came to see me because you wanted to dig deeper, understand why it happened, what triggered it.” 

“What is it that you want me to say?” The blond's gaze snapped to her face, startling her with the intensity she saw there. 

“We’re not yet ready for what I want,” she said. “Let’s start with what I don’t. No practiced or rehearsed psycho-nonsense. Give me your honesty.” 

“Doctor Boyd-”

“Jessica, but you can call me Jess”

Marlena released an extended breath, feeling the weariness of their sessions. The patient was supposed to be the one snapping, not the doctor. Her walls stood just as erect as the day she entered her therapy room. Marlena picked her folder off Jessica’s table and set it on her lap. “You want direct conversation?” 

“Yes.” 

“Because you have no inhibition in saying what you’re thinking, you demand the same of me.”

“Yes.” Jessica looked at her, she couldn’t take her eyes off her never-ending legs. 

“How freeing to have the power, the candidness, to just blurt whatever is on your mind and not give a damn how it’s received. Tell me, Jess. How does that feel?” The corner of her mouth tipped up.

“Liberating, you should try it.” 

 

Marlena licked her lips. Her mouth too dry to speak. She’d allowed her to get under her skin, and she was enjoying her agitation. 

“Jessica” she started. “I was trying to convince myself. I came here to prove to myself that I can stand on my own two feet, and that Alex haven't destroyed my self-confidence or my ability to practice, and I shouldn't have come, I should have been home….but the thought of being home with the people that I love so much, terrifies me, I’m afraid I’d lose them... That’s why I run, that’s why I go to conferences, I'm just trying to get away...”

“You don't need to convince anyone that you are a strong independent woman, they all know it. I know it.”, She admitted, immediately following up. “You have been through a hell of a lot…” She trailed off, unable to complete her thought. 

 

“Well, that is an understatement…the worst thing is-” Marlena sat forward. “I don't know how John can forgive me for being pregnant by Roman when I can't seem to be able to forgive myself.”

Jessica tossed her bangs from her eyes and adjusted her posture. “Master your guilt. You're a human being....and I think that, for you to go through something like this, just gives you new insight, new ways to help your patients.” 

Marlena’s stare was invasive, that disarming gaze hardening as if she was dissected. “Is that what you think? Do I need to electrocute myself to learn that playing with electricity is dangerous?” 

A splash of fear iced Jessica’s body. 

“Marlena, I was only suggesting you’d master your guilt about the whole ordeal.” 

“Master it. Have you ever mastered a guilt or are you just delusional?” Marlena placed both feet on the white rug beneath her heels. “I don’t know why I came here. This was a mistake. This session has officially gotten off track, and so it’s over.” she rose from her seat. 

 

“Marlena. Will I see you next week?” The hurt in her voice sounded so genuine it stopped her. She turned toward her. “I don’t require another session.” She yanked the paperwork from her folder and flinched. 

“Oh, man. Paper cut.” Red beads at the tip of her finger. In the second it took her to assess the wound, Jessica moved. She captured her hand and hauled her forward. Her vise grip served two purposes: preventing her from fleeing, and forcing blood to her hand. She took her finger into her mouth. 

A roar filled Marlena’s ears, her heart thundering at the feel of her sucking the blood away. She felt it in the back of her knees, an electric current racing through her body and knocking her legs weak. 

“Stop.” The word was barely audible, but it was enough. Jessica pulled back and released her hand. She drew the paperwork off the floor, held it in her palm, then rubbed a pattern over the white paper. “I’m afraid that when it comes to you, Marlena, I’ll never master that guilt.”

Marlena stepped backward, separating them. “It doesn’t matter what you say. This is over.” 

 

Fire ignited her brown eyes. “After all you've been through, you need to find yourself. To know who you are, not just John’s wife. You need to regain control back into your life.“ 

Marlena shook her head and took another step away. “I was trying to convince myself, and I shouldn't have come, I should go…” Beneath the adrenaline spiking her bloodstream, she sensed a distinct of an uneasy feeling. 

 

“You know, Marlena, another way of looking at it is this,” Jessica said, making her stop her movement. “Which do you prefer? Being in control? Or giving it to someone else?” She began to tap the pen against her palm. “Being in control means having all the power. But it also means responsibility. Giving up control means you get to let go completely. But it requires you to place yourself in someone else’s hands. To trust them. It can be terrifying.” She stilled the pen in her palm. “And it can be exhilarating.” 

Marlena didn’t respond and the other woman got closer again. The sound of her own breath seemed deafening in the silence. “I’ve said before that I’m good at reading people. And I think I know the role you’d like to play. I know your type, Marlena. Ambitious. Driven. Always striving for perfection. Never allowing the slightest lapse in self-control. It must be exhausting.” Jessica ran her fingers along her hair. “Don’t you ever want to just let go of all your problems and let someone else take the reins?” 

 

“Yes…” Marlena had never even admitted that to someone else, but John always used to tie her up and make her beg for more. “This here? Our sessions. This is one way to do that. You use to be the listener, the one calling the shots. Now the tables have turned. Here is a place to escape it all, if only for a moment. To lose yourself so completely that everything falls away and all that is left is pure submission. To surrender.” Jessica leaned forward, her face barely an inch from Marlena’s. 

“Does that tempt you?” 

“Yes,” she whispered. 

Jessica brought her lips to the woman’s ear. “Than stay…It’s more freeing than you could possibly imagine.” A shiver went through Marlena’s body. Jessica's eyes seemed to strip away all her defenses, and her face was so close to hers. Her lips…Her warm breath touched her neck. Her mouth rested against her ear. Marlena blinked hard. She mentally cursed herself. She was so enraptured at that moment she held her captive.

 

What is happening? 

She was her fucking psychiatrist. 

She was blind again. 

Naive.

Stupid.

Again.

 

Marlena dropped her purse, picking it up, she turned toward the door. She followed, grabbing her arm. “Stop running from everything that is real.”

Jessica had promised herself over a month ago that she’d never again willingly think of Marlena that way. For her own mental health, she’d forced herself to put out of her mind what could never be. But she also needed these sessions. 

The softness of her’s skin. 

Her perfect, classical features. 

Even up close, without make-up, she was flawless.

Those palest of hazel eyes could pierce her soul. Her voice…undulating and sensual, like she was peeling an apple with her tongue. Her lips, pale coral, pliant, ready with a teasing smile or the plumpest of pouts. It was as if she’d been made to order: 

Perfection. 

Jessica let the memories tumble her back to her hometown, so lost in love with Olivia she was. She rolled over how that felt, that mindset and heart-set. 

Then she let the words come. “Answer me that, what do you need, to feel in control again?” She tightened her hold, letting her feel the warmth of her skin. 

 

"I have to stop the dreams…. “ she said suddenly, shifting her big redding eyes to the other woman. Watched how her fingers parted to release her arm. “They’re nightmares…sometimes they're about things that didn't even happen, or maybe they did….I don’t know, I’m so confused." She flinched, remembering her hideous nightmares, the nights she'd spent screaming herself awake.

"You’re here. Those dreams can’t hurt you anymore." the woman spoke, her low voice breaking Marlena’s heavy breathing. Her lips parted to inhale. "I wasn't gone very long but before I left...I wasn’t- I wasn't myself. I wasn’t there for my family, I wasn’t. I wasn’t there for Belle as I should have been. I’ve lost so much time…because of Tony, the amnesia, Alex." She stopped, her lips pressed together to stifle a sob that eagered to push through. 

"I remembered what caused my amnesia….I lost a baby...” She said quietly again, gasping in a breath, her nails clawing at the fabric of her blouse.

Jessica kept quiet.

 

“I want to know,” Marlena said, raising her wet eyes to look at the woman, her voice barely a whisper. “I want to know what you meant about giving up control. About Surrendering.” 

Jessica pressed the tip of the pen into the base of Marlena’s neck and drew it down the center of her chest. “You know exactly what I mean.” 

Marlena’s lips parted slightly. She was so close that she could feel the heat radiating from Jessica’s skin and breath on her neck. “We both know what you want. We both know what you’re longing for. I can give it to you.” 

She took Marlena’s chin in her hands and tilted her face up toward her. “All you have to do is let go.” 

Marlena’s heart pounded. She stared back at the woman’s eyes, her mind swimming in conflict and doubt. At once, Jessica’s lips were on hers, a soft, light kiss that lingered even after they parted. 

"Jess I-" she tried and that low breath alone was her undoing. It only took Jessica a second to react. Her mouth seized Marlena’s, her hands threaded in her hair, and she kissed the hell out of her. Kissed her hard and soft and everything in between.

Marlena exhaled slowly. All she knew was that something had charged the room with an energy that desperately needed to be dispelled. 

 

“I can’t….” Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. 

“It’s all right.” Jessica’s stomach tightened. 

“I think I need to sort this out on my own,” She said, her tone a few registers lower. 

“Marlena.” Jessica bundled up the papers in her hand, tossing them on the big oak desk. 

Marlena reached for her purse again, bending over the small sofa, her black skirt straining across her ass. 

 

Holy fuck.

 

“How can I help you? What do you need?”

“I need someone to hold me and not let go of me..someone who could be brave enough for me, so I could stay”

 

Their gazes met and for a moment neither spoke.

The sound of the metal chain of her purse against her skin vibrated in the small office.

She glanced back at Marlena, desire clear in her eyes. 

​

Oh, God.

 

“Do you remember the first time you were ever in here?” Jessica murmured. “I wanted to touch you so bad...even then..” 

“Jessica” she eyed her coolly. 

“Your neck” Her fingertips trailed to her throat. 

“Stop-” she moaned as her mouth met hers again, as she kissed her harder, not letting her go until she was nearly breathless.

“Collar bone” Jessica breathed out when the kiss broke, fingers tracing the bones in question. Her fingers slid against the hard buttons of her blouse. Her expression became intense. Jessica’s hands worshipped the shape of her, the weight of her, memorizing her body. Her fingers and eyes mapped her with the devotion of a cartographer. With fingertips feather-light, she traced Marlena’s lower lip. “You’re exquisite.” Her voice was worshipful. Marlena shivered. 

She hadn’t touched her before—just a quick hug when they met. The look in Jessica’s eyes was nothing Marlena had ever seen. 

It was hungry. 

Possessive. 

Fire and arousal. 

Under the effect of those searing eyes, arousal rippled through her. 

 

“Let me help you…”Lips teased Marlena from her jaw down to her collar bone, where she stayed, indulging herself languidly. Wetness from the trails of her tongue glistened in the low light.

Jessica could feel as well as hear her sharp inhalation. Her arm tightened around her waist, a quiet warning about whose body she held. She felt the tremor run through Marlena’s body and the stiffening of her muscles. Her discomfort at being touched intimately by a woman was visible. She had no intention of pursuing sex now, but she needed her hands on her to read her responses and show her the way. 

“Please don’t touch me…” her raspy breath almost caught in her throat.

Jessica stopped, her heart pumped wildly in her chest, “God! I’m sorry….I don’t know what came over me…I’m sorry…”

The room was silent, only Marlena’s shattered breathing broke it from time to time.

“Marlena…Could we start over? I apologize…I was outta line…I just want to help you..” Her words sent a ripple of heat through Marlena’s body. 

Marlena sat back down, Jessica followed.

She nodded, her finger grazing a lost tear from her already wet cheek. Most people’s beliefs and responses to an ordeal originated in their subconscious. Jessica needed to make her dig deeper, find the scab and peel it open, make it bleed. 

“I’m not even sure how to help myself, Jessica. I know that it's healthy to grieve a loss, I just don't know why I chose to forget everything.”

Marlena started again. 

“What happened between you and Alex wasn't your fault,” she said easily. “Even the kidnapped that followed.” 

“I really shouldn't be here...You know, but I'm beginning to realize that...I'm not who I thought I was, and I'm not even sure how my patients can trust me...” she said. 

Terse answer. 

Not a subject she wanted to pursue. 

“Come on, what Alex did to you was not your fault, he was drugging you” Jessica would never have detected the quickly controlled jerk if her hand hadn’t rested on her thigh. 

“That’s right.” She tried to sit up, and she pulled her back gently. 

“Alex…he didn't cause the amnesia... Though, he didn’t do that. And I think amnesia is a pretty severe way to deal with things, don't you? And then I found out, that I've been a battered wife.”

“Stop it, there’s nothing to be ashamed about.” She felt as if she were Butler, pursuing an elusive mouse through the grass. “It happened, nothing you can do to change that. You must face the real world now.” 

“I knew it will be hard coming back to reality…after what happened with Alex...the verbal and physical abuse. I’m not the same strong woman that I always thought I was…I always turn to John to rescue me in a time of need.”

She strained against Jessica’s grip. 

Her vulnerability might hold the key. 

 

“How are your intimate relations with John these days?” 

“Jess, ah, excuse me, that’s not… I’m not going to talk about… None of your business.” Frazzled and a little lost, and the past few months still affected her emotions. 

She’d counted on that. 

“Answer me.” 

“Just that one time...tell me why is that so important to our session.” 

Well, that sounded harmless enough, except the tension buzzed through her body so fiercely, it made her hands ache.

“Were you and Alex intimate while he was living at your penthouse?” she’d asked the blonde, ignoring her words.

“Was he abusive during intercourse?” Her whole body stiffened as if she’d hit her. 

Right question. 

“Marlena?” 

“Yes,” Marlena said, her voice thin and quiet. 

“Tell me how” 

 

Marlena could feel Jessica’s body surrounding her and her hand on her thigh. Yet it was as if the real Marlena had disappeared, and she held a doll rather than a person. 

“He used to tie me in the shower…sometimes for hours at a time” 

“Oh,” Jessica breathed. 

Her words startled her, as did her kiss on her cheek. Her smooth chin nuzzled her neck before she said, “You know, Marlena, I could tell you that this sick bastard should be shot for abusing you, if he wasn’t already dead, and that you’re a bit confused when it comes to being punished because of him, but my words wouldn’t make much difference. Your thinking mind might take it in, but the subconscious resists any change.”

Confused?

More like totally screwed up. 

 

Between her days with Alex and Stefano, her internal map of the world looked more like a jigsaw puzzle dropped on the floor. This wasn’t a big revelation. And the way her stomach clenched when her hand stroked her collar bone just emphasized that. 

“What are you doing?”

“Were you ever treated this way by anyone before?” Jessica asked. Her other hand slid through a gap in her blouse. Marlena gave up holding the edges of the sofa and grabbed her hand. Warm fingers closed on her cold ones. 

“Marlena?” 

“No.” Her voice came out slightly breathless. “Not like this.” 

“Are you going to tell me how you were treated before?” 

“No.” She tried to pull away again, as useless an effort as a butterfly trying to escape a hungry bird. 

“All right.” 

Marlena didn’t sound angry, but she knew her now. 

She didn’t give. Persistence should be her middle name. But instead of talking more, she caressed the valley between her breasts. Her fingers circled her nipple through the sheer blouse, and she could actually feel the tiny muscles in the areola bunching in response to her knowledgeable touch. She moved to the other breast, and as if the two were joined by a wire, they both soon ached. 

 

“Jessica, I want to leave now. Let-let me go.” 

She pinched her nipple hard enough to make her jerk, and yet the sizzle went straight to her clit. 

“Don’t lie to me, beautiful. I prefer a refusal to a lie.” 

“A lie?” she strained.

 

A chill crawled up her spine, putting out the heat as if ice water had been dumped on it. “Yes. Face reality, let me help you do that” she said, startling her. She hadn’t realized she’d spoken. “Don’t worry, beautiful. No one will ever know….” Her fingers tightened on her nipple as if to prove her point. Pressing and then releasing in a slow rhythm until her blood and pussy pulsed in response. She bit her neck lightly, and Marlena jumped. 

 

How did she make all the sensations flow into her clit like water flowing into the ocean? Filling it until it throbbed. 

As if she’d heard her, her other hand released her fingers and stroked down her body, ever so gently and yet inexorably. Marlena set her hand over hers, lacing her fingers between her and trying to stop her, a useless attempt. When her fingers stroked across her center, her fingers were still laced through hers. 

“Stop.”

She chuckled. “I hadn’t thought you the type for masturbation in public, but I enjoy watching a woman pleasure herself. You may continue if you want.” 

Marlena jerked her hand away with a growl, knowing she’d lost that round. 

Heck, she was losing everything, including her senses. Jessica’s hand pressed against her pussy, her skin cool against the heat. Then she stroked the wetness from her fingers onto her thigh. 

“You’re wet, Doctor Evans” she whispered. “Care to explain it.” 

 

How did she do this to her? Men had touched her—many, many men—and rubbed her and—

“Stop thinking,” she growled and bit her neck, totally derailing her thoughts, and then she slid a finger into her. Marlena jumped, then gasped when her fingers pinched her breast. Her clit felt as if it had been pumped up like a balloon, and a tremor raced through her. Her control eroding like the sand on the beach, she struggled against her. Jessica’s forearms kept her in place even as her fingers moved over her breast. 

Her pussy. 

She swept her moisture through her folds and up over her clit. And then one finger rubbed her, stroking gently but firmly in a merciless rhythm. She would stop to spread more wetness and then resume. 

“This is what you need, Marlena…breathe…”

Marlena could feel her climax approaching, feel her legs quivering and her insides winding up like a spring. 

 

Jessica stopped. 

Why? 

 

“Jessica, this needs to stop, this is not who I am.” She said, standing up quickly. She leaned forward, and Jessica yanked her back against her chest so fast, her breath huffed out. “Stay still, beautiful.” 

At her growled command, Marlena’s body froze, although her heart rate increased. No woman has ever treated her that way before. And then she used her fingers to do exactly the same thing all over again, bringing her right to the top. 

And stopping. 

And again. 

The next time she stopped, she couldn’t smother her moan. She was deliberately torturing her.

“Why?” 

Her hands stroked over her, and everything she did seemed to make her need to come worse. Her clit felt as if it contained all the blood in her body, stabbing with need. “There’s only one way for you to get relief,” she murmured. 

She tried to edge away, this was a mistake. “No,” she whispered. “I won’t.” 

“That’s all right, baby,” she said. “I enjoy touching you so much that I can keep this up all night.” Her fingers slid down to cup her pussy, grazing over her clit. Her hips surged up, trying for more, and her hand moved away. 

"Jess..go on… please…you’re driving me crazy-” Her arousal surged higher this time, the frustration increasing her need to painful levels. When she stopped again, Marlena couldn’t stand it anymore. 

She needed…needed so badly to come. 

Could she actually have sex with her? Jessica wasn’t John. She wasn’t even a man. 

“Please….do it…” 

“Shhh, sit down.” She took her hands off her, and she whimpered. 

She waited. 

Her body felt stiff as Jessica turned to face her and knelt between her legs. The swollen folds between her legs throbbed, and the wetness there chilled in the cold room. With shaking fingers, she undid her thin golden belt, then her skirt. 

“Marlena.” Her hand tilted her head up to meet her gaze. Moonlight fell across her stern jaw. Marlena’s eyes were dark with shadows but level, not crazy with lust. “You look so beautiful.” Her fingers brushed over her clit, and she gasped, fire bursting within her again. She looked at her fingers again. 

“Breathe for me.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied her face. She sighed and touched a finger to her chin. “I will give you a mind-blowing orgasm.” 

Marlena shuddered as her pussy clenched.

 

She could do this. 

She’d done it so many times with John before, with other men, even if unwilling. But Jessica wasn’t John. She moved down to the two fingers waiting for her and eased down until her fingers pressed against her opening. 

Pushing, ramming, hurting. 

Her chest tightened until she couldn’t breathe. 

Her ears rang, and she tried to jump off. “I-I can’t—” 

Powerful hands closed on her arms. “Marlena, look at me.” 

She blinked, then focused on her. Jessica smiled slightly, and she released her, settling her hands back. Where they had been when she lost it. Her voice held the same gentleness she used with frightened patients. “Sweetheart. I want you, take a deep breath." 

 

As Marlena breathed, Jessica’s hands left her arms to stroke up and down her bare thighs, going a little higher each time, until her thumb almost grazed her center. Her center clenched. 

Tender. 

Her breath hitched, and for some strange reason, her eyes burned. Holding her breath, she daringly rose up farther, then eased back. How could a vagina that had never felt anything for a woman before suddenly be so excruciatingly sensitive? Up, down. Her clit throbbed, and everything around Jessica's fingers started to throb too.

Up, down. 

Faster. 

Jessica’s fingers were inside her. She increased the pace, and her need increased. “Oh God, Jessica, I can’t-” 

“Let me help, sweetheart.” And rather than pounding into her like she had expected, she moved just her hand. Her fingers slid further, and the next time she came down, she stroked her clit. 

Her whole body went rigid. 

She groaned and went up and down again, and her finger slid across her clit, pressing against it. The sensations from inside her expanded, joined with those from inside of her, and suddenly she screamed as everything, everything inside her burst, spasming through her in heart-stopping pleasure so brilliant, the moon faded. She barely moved, and another wave crashed through her. 

And another. 

Her heart had somehow lodged high in her chest, pounding so intensely, it hurt. Finally, she dropped down onto her, a quivering mess, still jerking with the aftershocks. 

“I… God…” she managed to whisper, feeling as if the world had edged sideways as if reality itself had changed. When Jessica's arms came around her, she almost cried at the sense of being anchored. She stroked her hair and murmured, “That had to be one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen, beautiful...” 

 

It came again, that vague feeling inside.

What has she done? 

 

Jessica hadn’t planned to go this far yet, but she’d mustered her courage. She frowned at how her hands had fisted. Perhaps a diversion would give her something else to concentrate on. Her fear consumed her entire being. 

“Marlena, give me your wrists.” With a quizzical look, she complied. She pulled her golden belt from the couch and fastened it to her wrists. 

“Jessica?” She moved her arms. Her eyes widened “I didn’t say you could do this, Jess,” she said, her voice shaking. “beautiful, I didn’t ask.” When she attached her silk scarf to her ankles and tied one end to the far sofa legs, she watched her with big eyes. She ran a finger under each of the ties to ensure her circulation wasn’t compromised, then sat back on her heels and enjoyed the sight of her restrained submissive. Her pale, pale skin glowed in the office dim light. Her breasts sat high on her chest, nipples jutting upward, reassuring her that the restraints had given her more arousal than fear. The skin between her legs glistened in the light, and when he set her hand there, her quick inhalation was louder than the sound of her beating heart. 

“If you want me to stop…tell me.” Jessica slid her fingers along her folds, circled her clit, and watched the flush rise in her cheeks. Her pussy had softened after her orgasm, but as he continued, the little nub under her fingers swelled with blood. Playing with the very edge of the hood could make her whine. 

Hearing that sound … Hell. 

 

Unable to resist, she went down on her. A woman with her legs chained open presented an overwhelming temptation to get closer, to breathe in the scent of her arousal, to taste her juices. And torture her until she whimpered. 

She laid her tongue directly on that tender clit and heard the thin whine rise higher. She flicked the edges, did a few circles, and then gently pulled her slit apart and the hood up. The pearl of sensation—damned good term.

Her legs shook when the cool air hit the protected nub, and she could feel her muscles tense. She flicked the edges of the button ever so lightly until her breathing turned ragged. She could get her off again.

 

No, she had better not push her further. She’d wanted to gift her with herself, and if she panicked now, it would be a step back. Besides, she very much wanted to bury her fingers deep inside her. Jessica sat up, enjoying her frustrated whimper. Her climax was just a flick or two away. 

Watching her face, she positioned her fingers and pressed in, a hell of a lot slower than she’d done it. Her pussy, hot and wet, stretched around them as she filled her. If her fear hadn’t hit, she’d have climaxed with her entry. 

But they had time. 

She propped herself up with one arm and took her lips in a teasing kiss. Her eyes looked a little wild, so she reminded her she had other worries than what happened in this office. “Did I get the ties too tight?” 

Her breath caught, and she jerked her arms, her legs. She was well pinned, and Jessica could feel the way her pussy constricted around her fingers at the knowledge. The purely submissive response fed her Dom nature like raw meat tossed to a wolf. “You know, I like your legs tied open, beautiful; I can lick you, and you can’t stop me.” Her vagina gave an involuntary twitch, but her eyes still had terror lurking in the back. She slid her hand under her ass.

 

Jessica squeezed the tender skin where her hand had struck. Her hips jolted up, pushing her deeper inside her, and her moan of pain held the husky note of arousal. This time, when she looked into her eyes, no terror showed. 

Now she was ready. 

Smiling, she pulled back and then drove into her. Her instinctive reaction—fear—made her yank on the restraints, and as that diverted her, she rocked in and out, harder and faster. 

 

“Oh, God…” She squeezed around her, thigh and stomach muscles quivering. She was right on the edge. Jessica shifted to the hard, fast strokes, angling to hit her G-spot with every couple of thrusts. When she slid a finger directly over her clit and rubbed, her whole body went rigid. One thrust, another, and then her head tilted back, neck cords standing out as her climax burst over her. 

Her short, jerky cries coincided with the forceful, milking convulsions that sucked her fingers like a vacuum pump.

 

She looked down at the beautiful doctor underneath her. Her eyes were glazed. 

“Hey beautiful,” she murmured, resting her forehead against hers. Just that tiny movement tightened her pussy around her fingers, and she actually jerked a couple more times. Reaching over her head, she ripped the ties off and released her wrists. 

 

“Marlena, I care about you…” 

Marlena shivered, standing up.

Her grip on her loosened, her hands sliding away from her body. Marlena made a noise as she let her go, a noise of pure pain and defeat, and she gave a breath like she’d been punched in the gut.

Jessica turned to face her. “Please don’t leave like that,” she said, her voice filled with dread. “Please.” 

“I can’t stay here.”

“Do you want to hear what I have to say before you go?” Marlena wasn’t sure but she gave a very small nod. Jessica went back to sit on the opposite couch.

Her eyes begged her. 

Marlena looked at her, cold hazel eyes emotionless despite what she had been doing to her body. “Can you forgive me?”

 

Could she forgive her? 

She betrayed her husband.

Herself.

 

“No,” she said. Gathering her things. “I trusted you and you played on my vulnerability. Don’t call me. Not ever again.” 

 

They walked in silence to the entrance, and when she stepped out of the room, Jessica was left alone. She walked over to the sofa and crept between the pillows, staring into the darkness. The sofa was too heavy with the memories of the past, even if it wasn’t the same sofa where it had happened.

She was alone.