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this.
    He senses my nervousness. “Sara, it’ll be fine, I’m not a jerk,” he says wryly. “Look, do you want to do this some other time?”
    “No.” I don’t think I’d have the courage to go through this again. Besides, I broke up with Colin because of this dark chasm in me. This is my opportunity to explore it a little bit.
    “Can I get a glass of wine?” I ask him.
    He raises an eyebrow at me. “Liquid courage?” he asks with some amusement. “Red or white?”
    “Whatever’s easier,” I say. Doug opens the refrigerator, pulls out a bottle of white wine and pours me a glass. I take a sip. It is light and refreshing; a perfect summer wine. I take another sip.
    “Let’s go back to the living room,” he says.
    ***
    In the living room, Doug sits on the couch and pulls me onto his lap. He pulls me close, one hand encircling my waist, the other tracing a gentle line down my cheek. He runs a thumb over my lower lip; an incredibly erotic touch that has me shifting restlessly in his lap.
    “Want to do this?” he whispers in my ear, catching my earlobe between his teeth, nibbling it lightly. Little tendrils of arousal run through me, replacing the nervousness. I shift in his lap again. I can feel his erection against me, and I bite my lip. His body feels good, really, really good.
    I nod. Yes. I want to do this.
    He pulls me closer and kisses me. His mouth is initially gentle on mine. I sigh softly. I haven’t been kissed in over five weeks and I miss it. My mouth parts slightly and lets him in. That’s the signal Doug’s been waiting for. His lips are suddenly more insistent, his tongue pushes into my parted mouth and dances a delicious duet with mine. His free hand traces idle lines on my bodice.
    I moan. Doug’s hands are, in their own way, creating a fire as insistent as the whip. My body tingles in pleasure and lust. I move into him; bring my hands around his head to draw him in, still closer.
    “No,” he says softly, pulling away from my mouth for an instant. “Let me set the pace, please.”
    Aah. The first demonstration of control. But he doesn’t order me. This is a request, not a command. I nod. I can do this for him. My hands remain at my sides.
    He bends his head again, pulls my mouth onto his. He’s nibbling my lower lip now, softly, and the feeling of his teeth on my lip is awakening a deep hunger in me. I moan and shift restlessly.
    “Keep still, baby,” he mutters. Again, not an order, but again, I obey.
    His hands are now running lightly over my breasts. I want to shrug off the straps of my dress, lower the bodice so that his hands will caress my bared breasts but I hold still. His fingers are dancing a little waltz on my bared arms, tracing a pathway along my exposed cleavage, running a fiery line along my thighs.
    I part my thighs. Doug chuckles. “Keep still, baby,” he says again.
    His mouth now is trailing little kisses on my neck. I love being kissed on my neck. It’s my secret erogenous spot, one with a direct line to my pussy. I feel the familiar stirrings as he kisses me. The familiar dampness. I bite my lower lip and moan.
    The sunlight is streaming in through the windows in his living room. Doug groans. “The dungeon is in the basement,” he says, a little ironic inflection when he says dungeon. “The bedroom is upstairs. Which way, Sara?”
    It is tempting to pick the safe path; to gesture towards the bedroom. I don’t do that. Instead I gather up my courage. “Downstairs,” I say quietly.
    We walk towards Doug’s dungeon.

Chapter 5
     
    I expect a sinister basement; damp, dim and forbidding. Doug’s dungeon isn’t any of these things.
    The St. Andrews Cross in a corner does look intimidating. And the ceiling is criss-crossed with visible metal beams, some with chains hanging down. But aside from these things? The room is, like the upstairs, warm. There are windows set high in the walls, looking onto the backyard, and through this, beams of sunlight come