Page 19 of Rather: The Therapist

Our eyes locked for the hundredth time. Her words began to loop in my head.

“Are you going to eat your food?” She probed, digging into her salmon.

She wasn’t fooling me. Hunger had evaded her as it had me. The small bite of salmon was hardly enough to appease a woman with an appetite for food. She wanted her belly filled but not with what was on her plate.

“What I’ll be eating isn’t on ceramic. It’s freshly lasered with an uncontrollable thud.”

Nodding, she smiled, opening my chest cavity and freeing my heart of a portion of its strife.

“Good, then.”

“I don’t put my mouth anywhere, my dear. But, somehow, I can’t fathom leaving this suite tonight without putting my mouth on you.”

“I’m not anywhere. I’m not anyone.”

“That, I’ve learned.”

“Then, there’s no need to explain.”

“I wasn’t explaining. I was prefacing.”

“For–”

“I’m not interested in a new partner upon my return. In fact, I won’t return if you can’t promise you will.”

“There are at least fifty beautiful wome–”

“And, I want you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Until we both get tired.”

“What will I get out of this arrangement?”

“Exactly what you came for, my dear.”

“I want more.”

Whatever you want. I thought, never allowing the words to fall from my lips.

“What is it that you wa– What is it that you need?”

Hesitantly, she dropped the fork in her hand and grabbed the iced champagne. Up on my feet, instantly, I removed the bottle from her hand and poured the liquid into the fluted glass. I didn’t stop until she held her palm in the air.

She swooped the champagne from the table and sat the rim against her lips. Slowly, she sipped. Her eyes rolled into the top of her head as she shook it from one side to the other. Whatever she was preparing to say almost felt silly to her. Almost felt beneath her. Almost felt shameful.

Yet, she was preparing to reveal it, anyway. She wanted her needs met and knew for a fact I’d meet them. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be in my suite. She’d made it clear this wasn’t her first time at The Mansion, but it was her first time indulging.

I waited, ready and willing to serve my purpose because she was serving hers well. She was stunning. She was exactly what I’d been missing every day and every night. She embodied womanhood so well. My attraction to it, at least.

The commanding presence. The dominating spirit while remaining ever so gentle. The ability to strip one of their logic and have them thinking of nothing, seeing nothing but her. The effortless influence to join whatever wavelength she was on.

“Authority.”

“Authority?” I questioned, quite surprised by the simplicity of her request.

“Guidance.”

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