Katie wrung her hands. She couldn't believe she was here talking to -- talking to -- talking to this -- this -- man.

"How can I help you Ms. Fischer," Dr. Stoddalman said.

Katie licked her lips. Mrs. But she didn't correct him. She glanced away, hiding her face behind the curtain of her tresses. "I -- Sara told me that you could help me...with...uhm...my problem."

The doctor looked kindly at her. "Sara who?"

"Sara Middleton."

"Ah...so you're here for help with..."

"Sex!" Katie blurted. Heat pricked her skin, almost making her itch.

Dr. Stoddalman chuckled, but not unkindly. "I am a sex therapist."

"Sara said -- Sara said you--" The heat crept from Katie's cheeks to the top of her breasts. She broke eye contact again. "--hypnotized her."

"I do, do hypnotherapy, when advisable. What would I be helping you with?"

"I..." A billion thoughts chased themselves about her brain. Not one of them managed to make their way to Katie's mouth before embarrassment chased it away.

"Ms. Fischer, it's Katie, right? May I call you Katie?"

Katie nodded, too nervous to speak.

"Katie, call me Edward, or Sex-Ed, for short." Edward shot Katie a conspiratory grin. Katie smiled weakly in response.

"I can see that you're uncomfortable." Ed said, "I understand, but there's no need to be. Do you want me to guess as to why you're here?"

"Yes." Katie nearly choked on the word.

Ed huffed, blowing away a premature chuckle. "I meant that rhetorically, but, okay, let's see.

"You're engaged--"

"Married!" Katie touched her thumb to her engagement ring. She didn't often wear the wedding band. "I -- The ring pinches. It's more comfortable this way."

"Ah, well, that alters my guess." Dr. Stoddalman studied her. "Okay then, you're married. Sex was interesting, new, at first, but it never really sparked a certain something, a drive for more, within you. You got...bored."

Steel banded Katie's breast. She barely breathed. "Yeah."

"So now you just--" Ed made air quotes with his fingers. "--do it. Sex has become a chore." Again the air quotes. "A wifely duty."

Pressure built behind Katie's eyes. She swallowed hard but couldn't speak.

The good doctor must've seen the confirmation he needed, for he continued. "Your husband has noticed. He's hurt."

The pressure became too much. A tear slipped. "I don't mean too!" Katie blurted. More tears followed the first. She sniffed. "I don't want to be like that."

Edward pushed a box of Kleenex across his desk towards her. "Like what, Katie?"

"Unapproachable. Unavailable. Cold."

"How old are you, Katie?"

"Twenty-six."

"How long have you been married?"

"Eight months."

"I think I might be able to help."

Katie's voice crescendoed, "You can?"

"Katie, I'm a sex therapist. A counselor. I help women and men get over their hang-ups...if they want too. Usually, in the case of couples, I'd ask both of you to be here and depending on the outcome of this session, I still might request that but...as Sara told you, I do, do hypnosis. If you'll excuse the expression, I think there's a chance I can 'light a fire in your pants.' A fire you'll enjoy having your husband put out.

"How does that sound?"

The silence stretched, the only interruption a muffled "honk" issued from behind a Kleenex.

Dr. Stoddalman let out a heavy breath. "Katie, you're going to have to talk to me sometime."

"I know."

He rubbed his forehead. "I'll tell you what. I'll lay out a plan for what I can do for you, you tell me if you're up for it."

"Okay."

"I'm going to hypnotize you and give you a trigger, a trigger you control." Edward turned about and grabbed two pill bottles off a shelf behind him. One, Katie recognized, a common all-inclusive women's vitamin. "If you agree to this therapy, I'm going to take this unopened bottle of vitamins and dump it in here." He handed an empty bottle to Katie, it was labeled: Heat, Libido Enhancer for Women. There were a number of warnings printed below the label.

"As far as the hypnosis goes, that's all I'll do, convince you the pills we put in that bottle--" He pointed at the empty bottle in Katie's hand. "--are an effective libido enhancer called, 'Heat.' You'll actually have to buy the--" The vitamins rattled in their bottle as he raised his hands for more air-quotes. "--drug in order to maintain the illusion."

"That's all? I mean..." Katie trailed off.

"Not quite. You'll read the label and all the warnings. You, or at least your subconscious, will decide how Heat will affect you. You'll take a dose here in the office and I'll coach you through a masturbation session. From there on out you'll take--"

Katie jerked. "Wait! What? You're going to watch me masturbate?" Fire scorched her cheeks. "No!"

"Your choice. You're the customer. But you'll be missing out on a free t-shirt you're your very own, new, fresh from the package, pink vibrator." Ed's eyes sparked with a light of their own. "Oh, and Mr. Big here." He retrieved, from a shelf behind him, a packaged, girthy dildo. Katie felt as though her eyes might pop.

"More seriously," Ed said, putting the dildo back on the shelf. "The session will help anchor your hypnosis an'll give me insight into how effective it was -- help me gauge how to proceed come your next appointment. Besides, if you don't know how to pleasure yourself, how do you expect to teach your husband?"

Fire, embarrassment and anger, burnt Katie's cheeks. "I know how to pleasure myself!"

"How often do you masturbate? Do you get all the way to orgasm?"

Katie swallowed, and ignored the question. "How often do I take..."

Edward switched gears gracefully. "Once a day, on days that you want to...be in heat."

Katie bit her lip, looking everywhere but at the doctor. Finally, staring at the placebo bottle clutched in her hands, she said, "Okay."

Ed jumped into action. "Good then." He pulled an electronic video recorder from his desk. "I'm going to record this so there's no questions later as to what's happened. You'll receive a copy. You'll be able to use it for further indoctrination if you so choose."

Edward reached for the bottle of Heat and gently pried it from Katie's fingers. "I'm opening this bottle of vitamins and dumping them into this empty placebo container of Heat," he said for benefit of the video. He pushed the Heat back to Katie and tossed the empty vitamin container.

"Now, Katie, please read the label, the entire label, out loud for the benefit of the video and so I know you've read it. Your subconscious needs to decide how this is going to affect you."

Katie turned the bottle in her hand. In a small voice, that grew stronger as she read, she read, "Heat

"Libido Enhancer for Women

"Heat is a specially formulated remedy for the enhancement of the female libido. Testing has shown increased libido to be greatest for the first 12 to 14 hours after use but many users report modestly elevated libido as much as 24 hours after use.

"Warning: Elevated libido often results in heightened sexual arousal."

Katie snorted.

"Warning: Elevated libido does not deplete upon sexual release. Users often report arousal rapidly replenishes. Some users report little or no relief of arousal upon sexual release. Such users often experience multiple consecutive orgasms when under the influence of Heat.

"Yeah, probably not.

"Warning: Users of Heat report that sexual release to be more intense and is often achieved with less stimulation.

"Warning: Arousal is distracting. Arousal inspired by the elevated libido produced by Heat can be intense. Users of Heat show no evidence of mental impairment and perform all their normal activities, mental or otherwise, with little difficulty provided they focus. Distraction, forgetfulness, minor mishaps and the embarrassment these inspire are not uncommon for those users of Heat that fail to focus on the task at hand. Socially, persons exhibiting such behaviors are sometimes cruelly labeled 'Bimbo,' 'Ditz,' or other disparaging names. Social labels will not likely resolve themselves with the discontinued use of Heat."

Katie choked a little and gnawed her lip before continuing. "DO NOT USE HEAT if any of these things will be an issue for you or at a time when such outcomes are likely.

"Warning: Intense arousal and activities inspired by increased libido can disrupt a user's sleep. It is recommended that sleep cycles be considered before using Heat and that dosing with Heat be done accordingly."

Katie stopped. "How strong is this going to be?"

"It can be pretty strong. Most women are only mildly affected, but there's been a few clients that've responded quite strongly."

Katie's breasts rose and fell. "Okay... Warning: Arousal resulting from an elevated libido often results in more sexually permissive activities within the confines of the user's relationships. Users often experience a 'softening' of one's sexual inhibitions. These effects are not directly related to the use of Heat and can become the 'norm' even when not actively using Heat. Heat, its manufacture, distributors, marketers and others involved in such activities are not responsible for the personal choices made by the users of Heat.

"Is this real, doctor? There are no manufactures of Heat."

"Katie, you're a graduate of an architectural school, holding down a job at a prestigious firm, as an architect. From what I can tell, you're damn smart. The more holes in this illusion we're building, the more likely it is that you'll find one and our little charade will be for nothing."

"Fine. Warning: Heat is not chemically addictive however increased arousal and the activities users engage in while under the influence of Heat often become psychologically compelling."

Several seconds passed while Katie gnawed her lip before continuing.

"Warning: 1 in 10 users of Heat experience sneezing upon sexual release. Users have likened this to 'sneezing one's brains out.' Repeated testing has shown that Heat has no impact on mental function.

"Warning: An undetermined percentage of users of Heat whom sneeze during sexual release while under its influence, sometimes find repeat usage of Heat can make sneezing a semi-permanent psychological trigger during sexual release.

"Warning: An undetermined percentage of users of Heat who've sneezed during sexual release while under the influence of Heat sometimes find that they develop a psycho-somatic trigger that results in orgasm whenever they sneeze, regardless as to what actually triggered the sneeze or prior level of arousal.

"Warning: An undetermined percentage of users of Heat who've sneezed during sexual release while under the influence of Heat sometimes find that they develop a psycho-somatic trigger that results in orgasm whenever they hear another person sneeze, regardless the user's previous state of arousal.

"Heat, its manufacture, distributors, marketers and others involved in such activities are not responsible for the personal choices made by those under the influence of Heat. Heat is only proven to increase a female user's libido all other affects are the result of the user's unique psychology and social conditioning."

For the first time, Katie truly met, and held, Edward's eyes. "Why all the stuff about sneezing?"

Ed coughed. "Well..." He extended his ells. "Sneezing during or immediately after orgasm isn't all that uncommon and it's a convenient way to--" His fingers scribed air quotes once more. "--measure how affected a client is. Bonus, sneezes are harder to fake than orgasms. During coaching, I know when a sneezer is trying to pull the wool over my eyes."

"But it only affects one in ten."

"So I know that one has unconsciously taken the full 'plunge' and will likely experience all the so called side effects of Heat."

"Okay, so why make me orgasm when I have hay fever? Or someone at the office has a cold?"

"I'm not." Edward cycled a heavy breath. "Remember, I don't make you orgasm. I don't program the side effects. I'm only hypnotizing you to believe that this vitamin is Heat and will enhance your libido. Your brain is doing the rest. Some clients were experiencing sneeze induced orgasms anyways. I didn't feel right not warning others once I discovered this. Besides, if you orgasm when I fake a sneeze, you might wish to consider an alternate therapy."

"I already know this is a placebo. How's this going to work?"

"The hypnosis will take care of that. I'll edit anything that'll destroy that illusion out of your general use copy of the video. You'll receive a second, unedited, backup version for legal purposes. If you watch that, Heat likely won't work, although, I might be able to indoctrinate you once more."

"So..." Katie intoned, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "What's next?"

"Why don't you go make yourself more comfortable on that couch over there? I need you to relax."

Ed kept talking as Katie moved. He moved out from behind his desk, took a chair, and placed it across from her. He sat in it backwards, his legs, man spread while resting his arms on the backrest, he kept talking.

And talking.

And talking.

At first Katie tried to get a word in edgewise. She had other questions, didn't she? But listening to Ed, she lost track of them. Then she lost track of where she was, and then Ed. How'd she lose track of Ed?

"Katie? Katie!"

"Hmm..."

"Wake up."

Katie blinked. She felt good, radiant even, like after waking up with the sun shining in her bedroom after a full night's rest. She felt comfortable, more relaxed than she'd felt in ages.

She sat up, peeling her face off the backrest of the couch, where she'd slumped over. Katie felt a touch of drool escaping one corner of her lips and she suspected she had a mild case of bed head. Somehow, she didn't care. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep."

"Did I do...well? Was I hypnotized?"

"You were. Now for the next step. What are your plans for this evening?"

Katie felt her cheeks heat, but she didn't break eye contact. "I was going to...you know...with Curtis -- my husband."

"It's a little soon, don't you think? We've only had one session."

"I have sex with him, Dr. Stoddalman! It's just...I know how to fake it."

Edward reached around behind him and grabbed a bottle of pills off his desk. "This is your prescription. You can buy, where sold, over the counter so it's not technically a prescription but...well, it's Heat. You've probably heard of it. A number of articles have come out about it in various magazines.

"Heat should raise your libido. It'll likely make your liaisons with Curtis more enjoyable, for both of you. I wouldn't normally recommend you taking this so late in the day, but if you're feeling up to it, and you're okay with arousal keeping you awake all night, you might give it a go now. Tomorrow is Saturday."

"There's a lot of warnings," Katie said, looking over the bottle.

"There are. But there're mostly in line with what you say you want -- increased sexual desire for your mate. And, it's not like you can't control some of them. You need not take Heat every day for it to be effective. But when you choose to, you'll probably want to take it in the mornings. Also, I'd prefer if you got your refills from me, it'll help me keep track of your usage and if it's a successfully treatment for you."

Katie glanced at the clock on her phone. It was a bit after one. "So I should take one now?"

"Yes, if you're okay with it. It'll help gauge how effective your treatment is going to be."

Katie read through some of the warnings and then popped open the top. The pills were not quite the size of horse pills. There must've been fifty of them.

"Here," Ed said, getting up and retrieving Katie a bottle of water.

After one last hesitation, Katie popped a pill and chugged some water. It burnt going down.

"How long does it take?"

"It varies from woman to woman," Ed said, but Katie wasn't listening.

A tingling heat started on her tongue and then slid down her throat, past her stomach, to blossom in her core. Katie swayed, momentarily swooning. She blinked hard to recover and then shimmied in her seat, thrusting her hips back to press her seam into the zipper of her jeans. An empty ache opened low, low in her core.

"Oh, wow." Katie expanded her breast with a sudden inhale.

"I take it it's working."

The ache intensified. "I'd say so." Katie's voice was a little breathy to her own ears.

Ed chuckled and stood. "Well, I'd say that was a success then." He handed her her purse, from where it rested on his desk, and made to usher her towards the door.

"I thought we were -- I thought you were going to teach me --" Katie broke off.

"You said you didn't want that."

Heat flooded from the bottom of her toes to the top of her scalp. Katie even saw her fingers turn red. Her neck, cheeks and breasts felt like they were on fire. "I--" She hid behind her tresses. "--I've changed my mind."

Edward didn't miss a beat. "'K', here's a dildo, K-Y and a vibrator." He set the unopened packages upon his desk with a couple of C-cells. "Pick a t-shirt -- to keep you partially covered up. Strip everything else off." He pointed. "Change room is there. There's a cubby for you clothes and a toilet if you need it. There's already fresh sheets on the bed, so I'm going to step out. When you're ready, come out here and lay on the bed and...think about what you want to do with Curtis tonight. If I'm not back, and you're ready, touch yourself."

Katie trembled. "Okay," she said in a small voice. Despite the unconventional situation, the humidity in her panties increased several dew-points. She selected a t-shirt from the doctor's collection while Ed let himself out. They were all XXXLT, so while she was tall, and loaded up top, it was still going to fall off a shoulder while the hem was going to land somewhere around mid-thigh.

She changed rapidly, before she could chicken out. She was a little grossed out when she saw how much she'd already juiced her panties.

Clad only in her new white t-shirt that proclaimed across her breasts, "I'm 'O' friggin' Amazing!" Katie peeked from her changing room. Not seeing, Ed, she tiptoe raced to the bed, as if that'd protect her dignity.

Katie hesitated. She wasn't sure if she was to get under the sheets or not. The knowledge of what she was about to do made her tremble. The thought that she was going to be exposed to a man not her husband--

Oh gawd. Shit! She slapped a hand to a nearby wall for stability and squatted down, divide gapped wide, as her core convulsed. Wet heat leaked down the inside of her thigh. Her love buzzer sparked madly every time the cotton of her shirt rubbed up against it. Electric arcs raced through every nerve locking Katie's muscles.

Katie squeezed her eyes shut. After a breath or two, the quake subsided. She crawled onto the bed and flopped over, not bothering with the sheets. When she could focus, when she was doing something, she was okay but when she though of--

"Hrmmm!" The sound tore its way out, as though fish-hooked in her breast and yanked from her mouth. Her ass scootched down the bed, splaying her legs and opening her seam. Hair and t-shirt rode up her back, exposing her below. With zero need for foreplay, Katie ran her right hand over her breast, down her belly and towards her divide. The ache in her pelvic bone grew impossibly stronger as her petals ran between painted fingers.

The heel of Katie's hand bumped her clitoris.

"Oh God," Katie intoned. Her ass lifted off the bed. She clenched, trying to collapse the hole growing within her. Heat washed her fingers and a trickle seeped towards her ass crack. Need spiraled, twining the core of her body tighter and tighter. Katie didn't even realize her other hand had found its way under her shirt until a high voltage jolt in her left nipple had her thrusting her breast for contact with a mouth that wasn't there.

A door clicked shut. Katie's lungs seized mid-moan.

"Katie, I'm back."

Katie whimpered and eased her arched body back to the sheets. She moved her left hand from her breast and covered her sex with the fingers of the other. She closed her splayed legs and a blush, that she could feel all the way in her ass, swamped her body.

Ed, Dr. Stoddalman, Katie reminded herself, walked to his desk and retrieved the dildo, vibrator, batteries and a tube of K-Y.

"Katie, it's normal to be shy, but it's good that you got started. It marks significant progress. Shall we try it with the...props?" he said. He pulled a chair over beside the bed and sat, facing her face, more than her body. While he certainly was aware of her exposure, it was Katie's eyes that Ed held. "Do you mind if I open these for you?"

"I don't think--" Katie's breast heaved. "I don't think I'm going to need them."

"Probably not," he said, taking a small pocket knife from his pocket. He cut open the dildo's packaging. "But it's a good idea to practice when it's easy," he paused, "so you know how to use them when it's not." He handed the dildo to her forcing her to abandon her meager modesty as she reached for it. Katie resisted, with all her will, to not pull the t-shirt down.

"This thing's huge."

"Not really. It's bigger than some men, but not all. Way smaller than a baby. Lube it up and see if you can find a use for it."

Fumbling, Katie squirted a glob of K-W on its head. Hating the smell and not wanting it all over her hands, she placed the toy at her entrance without rubbing the K-Y in. The chill shock momentarily confused her senses. Her legs trembled as she willed them open to make room.

"Katie, look at me."

Katie's gaze locked onto Ed's eyes. Without breaking eye contact, he loaded the vibrator with batteries.

"Now push the dildo in."

Katie's breath cycled faster. She pushed her core against the head of the dildo even as she put pressure on its base, forcing it forward.

"No, Katie, look at me. Imagine it's Curtis. Imagine you're drowning in his eyes."

Katie's eyes found Ed's once more, although they were hazel, almost green, whereas Curtis's were brown. Her breathing came hard, as the toy filled her. She opened and clenched and opened again as if her body weren't quite sure what to do with the invader. Her core wound impossibly tight.

Katie's thighs trembled and fell open to their widest, no longer cognizant that she was putting on a show for a stranger. She started to withdraw the dildo, the little bumps and ridges upon the toy bringing goose pimples to her flesh. In response, her core hollowed out while her nether-lips clamped down with a vice-like grip.

Her head thrust back as her back arched. An 'o' worked her jaw open and a guttural groan keened at the back of her throat.

"Katie, eyes."

Katie's eyes snapped back to her anchor. She clamped down involuntarily and her body began to undulate, trying to grind against the husband that wasn't there. "Why?" Katie's voice was a strained squeak forced between labored breaths.

"I'm training you. It's one thing to let loose with a vibrator. It's another to explode with a man. You're goin' to have to look in Curtis' eyes."

"Oh God. I'm gonna -- I'm gonna -- I'm gonna --" She almost looked away. At the last moment Katie remember to sink herself into Ed's gaze.

"Not yet."

"I -- whhy?"

"Hold it off." Edward twisted the vibrator. A bumblebee buzz filled the room. "Put this on a nipple or your clit."

She almost lost it when she grasped the pink toy, its electric pulse climbing up her arm. The ache within her grew unfathomably deep. "Oh my God."

"On you clitoris."

Katie brought the vibrating tip to her love buzzer. "oh" Her breath shuddered.

"Eyes on mine, Katie."

"Oh. My. God." Katie's back arched, her pelvis rose off the bed as though her body were trying to force itself more deeply onto the toys. All her concentration, not trapped by the doctor's eyes, was centered between her legs and the sparking explosions that radiated out from her core in ever increasing, ever more violent excess.

"Pull the dildo out and then slam it back in."

"Ugh!" Her body retreated in a chiropractic wave.

"Hold my eyes."

Katie trembled, her vagina cramping with random spasms.

"Katie--"

Katie's eyes found his.

"--cum."

Katie's breath froze in her lungs. Her legs, her core, her arms tensed. She arched her back.

Katie exploded. Hot liquids drenched her hand and sprayed the bed. A flesh quake tore its way through her body as her legs trembled uncontrollably. She let go of the vibrator and dildo to clutch desperately at the sheets looking for something, anything to anchor her to reality. Contractions, rock-iron tense, pushed the dildo from her slit. Only Ed's eye's kept her sane.

"Oh...fuck." Katie bit her lip and looked away. "I--" A tickle wormed its way up her nose. "I--"

Her head jerked and snot blew all over her breast, splattering the 'O' on her shirt.

"Oh god, ew. That's gr--"

More fluids juiced her crotch as the second orgasm flattened her. Her pelvis slammed into the bed as though pinned there by a rail-road spike. Quim drool drained down her ass crack while she quivered.

Katie gasped for hair, her breasts heaving, breaking her paralysis. The second sneeze curled her in a ball. Her thighs shivered and more fluid leaked from between her legs. She tensed for another sneeze, but held it.

Many heartbeats hammered by. Eventually they slowed. "Sorry about your bed."

Ed chuckled. "Sometimes, most times, I don't understand women. But don't worry about it. That's hardly the important thing right now. But, for your peace of mind, know that the mattress sheet is rubber. The rest is easy enough to throw in the wash." Despite his attempt at to make light, his voice sounded strained. Katie glanced at him but Ed had turned his back to her.

"I'll be outside in the reception area talking to my assistant. There's a washcloth and clean towels in the change room. Take as much time cleaning up as you need. Call if you need anything. I'll be in in a bit."

With those words, Ed fled. Katie picked herself up gingerly from the bed and made her way slowly to the change room. She sponge bathed, she'd juiced herself from crotch to knees, dressed, and took quite some time to brush the sex head from her hair. Before exiting the change room, she leaned her forehead upon the door. A tight ache was welling up in her crotch once more. The moment she noticed it, it blossomed brighter.

Fuck, this Heat stuff was no joke. Three pussy wrecking orgasms and she was already thinking about fingering herself again. Grabbing hold of herself, Katie stepped back in the office.

The bed was already stripped. A small, discrete bag sat on the desk with her new vibrator and dildo. A clean t-shirt sat beside it.

"Katie," the doctor sounded more relaxed now, "I hope this session has met your expectations."

Katie felt a flood of warmth in her cheeks but found the bravery to meet Edward's eyes. "It did doctor Ed, Edward...Ed. Beyond expectations. Way beyond." A smile bowed her lips.

"Good. I'm glad." He walked her to the door, put his hand on the knob and handed her her things. "The Heat is in there. Go easy on it. Maybe only a couple times a week to start. There can be too much of a good thing."

Katie beamed at him again. "I will."

"Katie--" He hastily turned away from her, hand still on the door. He put a hand to his nose as his head pulled back. "Ah-choo!" His head snapped forward. "Excuse me."

"Hmmmm!" Katie's voice was strained. A hand slapped to the door as she bent double, hair spilling over her face. She pinioned her other hand between her thighs. Ten seconds she shook.

"You did that on purpose!" she said, when her voice returned.

"I'm sorry--" He really did look sorry. His shoulders shrugged. "--I had to know."

Katie closed her eyes. Frustration still tainted her voice. "It'd be nice if my jeans didn't soak through before I get home. I've got to go back to work first."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Okay, well--" The stiffness bled from her shoulders. Her face pulled into another smile. "--thank you, doctor, for your help. I -- yeah -- thank you."

***

Ed watched Katie's retreating back for just a moment longer before shutting the door on the lobby. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he made his way back to his desk and flopped in the chair. He dropped his head into his hands.

A long minute passed. Heaving a depressed breath, he punched up his assistant on the phone.

"Stacie, has Mrs. Fischer left?"

"Yes."

"Have any new appointments cropped up while I was busy?"

"No, sir. You're open the rest of the afternoon."

"Good, keep it that way, please." After hanging up, he dialed his wife.

"So what's eating you?" she, Holly, said upon answering.

"How do you know something is eating me?"

"Women's intuition?" She giggled. It was her bimbo giggle. She didn't often use it on Ed and Ed was certain it was deliberate. Right now, while he was feeling guilty, it grated.

"Really?" he growled.

"No," Holly giggled again. "Stacie texted me."

"Well, shit, why do all women gang up on men?"

"To keep you off balance."

"Men are already off balance when it comes to women."

"Oh well." Ed could hear the smile in Holly's voice.

"Well, consider me officially off balance."

"So," Holly said, her voice going serious, "what's eating you?"

"I had a woman in here--"

"Katie."

"How?"

"Stacie."

Ed closed his eyes. He was going to have to have a talk with Stacie. "Anyhow, that woman, Katie, her inhibitions were mummy wrapped. I thought the 'Heat' treatment would unwind her a little, not rip the band-aid off and throw her to the sharks."

"She'll be fine. It's probably the first time she's ever orgasmed, I mean, really orgasmed. She might've had a little one here or there, but those hardly count."

"She came here trying to save her marriage."

"Let me guess. She's married to some sexually regressive, neutered guy that doesn't excite her precisely because she chose him to feel safe -- from herself. Now you've shown her that she can be both confident and safe and you're afraid you've ruined her marriage."

Edward groaned. "Yeah, something like that."

"She'll thank you for it."

"You think so?" Ed was not so sure.

"Absolutely, if he's not the right guy for her, and can't become the right guy, she'll thank you for ending her marriage. If he's not the right guy, ten years from now, he'll thank you too. If they are right for each other, their sex lives just became a whole lot hotter and they'll work everything else out, with, or without, your help."

"You're confident."

"I'm married to you. I know exactly what it's like to have my inhibitions unraveled. Remember our 'Dumbfuck' experiment? 'Heat's' based off that, right?"

"Yeah, but it was your design, you asked, begged, to spend two months 'Dumbfucked.'"

"And you didn't want to do it. You were afraid it'd change me."

"Holly! You own a strip joint and an escort service! If we lived in Nevada you'd open a brothel. Katie's not that kind of woman!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Holly's voice came across the line hard and sharp.

"It means I changed you!"

"Edward Donald Stoddalman! You did not change me!" Holly's voice vibrated with anger, and something else, Ed suspected she was holding back tears. "My libido is through the roof. It's always been through the roof. You. Know. That!

"I wanted to be a porn star since the first moment I knew such jobs existed. I'd've dropped out of college to be a street walker if I'd've had the courage. You freed me!"

Ed rocked back stunned. She'd never shared that before.

"AND I LOVE IT!"

There were several heartbeats of silence. Then the crying started.

"Holly..."

"And I love you." Ed could barely pick out the words between Holly's muffled sobs. "Ed, you didn't make me a slut any more than you made me a business woman. I was already a slut."

"You're not a slut, Holly. Everything you do, your clothes, your hair, you style, your energy, your businesses...even the porn, somehow you even make your bimbo act, because I know it's an act, not slutty."

A loud sniff sounded on the far end of the line. "You believe in everyone, Ed. Why won't you believe in yourself?"

"Because normal men don't turn good, well-adjusted, successful women into nymphomaniacs then turn around an' catch some tail from his wife's harem."

Holly giggled. This time, thank God, it wasn't her bimbo ditz act. "Well, you are you. Remind me, I need to set you up with some tail."

"Holly."

"I'm free later."

Ed closed his eyes, thank God.

"But seriously, Ed, did you see that woman...um...Katie...when she left your office? Stacie said she was beaming."

"She smiled. That's hardly beaming."

"Stacie said she was brighter than a sunrise on a Sunday morning."

"She just had three, no four, orgasms. I'm sure at least two of those counted if we're using your yardstick."

"Ha. Ha." Ed could no longer detect sorrow in Holly's voice. "Orgasm's don't make people happy. Being free makes people happy. You have no idea how repressive our society can be. You freed her, Ed. You made her happy."

"People don't make other people happy. People are responsible for their own emotions."

"Enough with your psycho-babble. You're not even a psychologist. Are you good now?"

Ed paused. He was good. "Yeah."

"Great, I need to go. See you at home."

Ed sneezed.

A sharp bang echoed down the line. "Ungt." Twenty seconds ticked by. "Oh my God." An unsteady breath sounded in the speaker. Ed could practically see his wife shudder. "I'm going to fuck you up so hard for that."

"What? I have a cold."

"Yeah, right. See you tonight, fucker." The line went dead.

Ed leaned back, his hands woven behind his head. His heart felt lighter.

But thoughts of Katie were hard to let go of. She'd been at least a nine on his personal, "I'd love to bend you over scale," and it wasn't often a man got to lock eyes with a smoking hot woman as her mind melted. A lesser man would've pulled up her video for a little private stroking but there were advantages to having an open marriage with a stripper, porn star, hooker wanna-be business woman. His wife had more than one employee that'd happily 'tip' the CEO's husband. As it was several hours before he'd get to see the most desirable woman on earth, he thought a call to her business might be in order.

A knock sounded, interrupting his rod hardening thoughts.

"Dr. Stoddalman, you busy?" Stacie stuck her head in the door. Seeing him just sitting there, with his hands behind his head, she stepped in and latched the door behind her.

"Stacie, it's Ed, or Edward if you must."

"I'm done with Katie's file. I've sent her the recording and the unaltered, unedited one along with instructions not to watch without disrupting her therapy efforts. I've stored both on our remote servers as well."

"Good job, thank you, Stacie. I'm closing up for the evening. You can go home an' call it an early weekend."

Stacie locked the door and then turned towards Ed, her whole face glowing. "I will, but not yet. Your wife sent me."

Suddenly Ed's pants were way too tight. He knew it'd been a mistake to hire a girl -- woman -- he caught himself, although Stacie barely qualified -- from his wife's escort service, no matter how good her office skills were.

Ed pushed back his chair. "Stacie, we work together."

"Katie was hot." Stacie stalked towards him. Inexplicably, beige slacks and white business blouse took on the seductive power of lingerie. Stacie pulled a pencil from her hair and shook her tresses free. Bouncy, honey-gold waves fell to the small of her back. "I've never seen someone, anyone, orgasm -- so -- fuckin' -- hard. I had to edit that!" Stacie pulled a bottle of multi-vitamins from Ed's shelf, twisted the top and popped the safety seal. "And they say blonds have more fun."

With seductive grace, Stacie laid a single vitamin on her tongue. Holding in out where Ed was sure to see it, she caught his gaze, drew the pill into her mouth and swallowed. The bottle bounced, the remainder of the pills scattering, where she dropped it.

Striding forward, she unbuckled the thin silver belt that couldn't possibly been functional, pulled it free of her slacks and let it slip to the floor. She stalked Ed into the corner behind his desk, popped the button on her slacks, unzipped and somehow, smoother than any stripper, stepped out of her pants without catching her pumps. Virgin, wedding-white lace greeted Ed's gaze and while it did oh so little to hide her slit it contributed quite a bit to Ed's genital blood pressure.

Ed tried one last time. "Stacie, you work for me."

"Are you going to fire me or fuck me?"

"I'm not goin' to fire you. You're the best help I've ever had."

Stacie's smile shone all the way to her blue-grey eyes. "Good--" She turned, sweeping everything off of Ed's desk, giving him a choice view of her ass. "--I like working under you."

"Okay, that's lame," Ed said, standing. He ran a hand over the perfect flesh before him.

Stacie snorted, more a laugh than a giggle. "It was, wasn't it." She turned towards Ed and smiled at him. She hooked her fingers in her barely-there-underwear and dropped them.

"Holy fuck."

She winked. "You like?" Stacie climbed onto the desk, hooked the heels of her pumps on the edge and slid forward until her ass was practically hanging off. "I have only one demand."

Ed unbuckled his belt, ripped open his fly and stepped between her legs. Dew was already forming on the lips below Stacie's honey-gold Brazilian. "And that is?"

To her credit, Stacie didn't even flinch when Ed's engorged shaft bounced off her pelvic arch and slid into the smooth crook between those gorgeous curls and her smooth thigh. "That while you fuck me, you look into my eyes."

***

CALL TO ACTION: My story Quaking (now available on wattpad) was rejected by the chief editor of a traditional publisher with a comment that led me to believe that I was being rejected because I didn't have a big enough social media following. A number of publishing agents have reinforced this interpretation. It would mean the world to me if people would follow me here and also at the locations below. A few clicks from you could mean the difference between success and failure for me. Thank you in advance! Have the most wonderful of wonderful days! Go with joy! K-Lark

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