I gradually became aware of the body next to me as the blanket of sleep slowly dissolved. It took me a moment, and I smiled, remembering where I was and why I had the most pleasant ache between my legs. I lay unmoving, still in Neil’s arms, his apartment dimly lit by the early morning sun.

Yesterday and last night had been epic, easily the most intense series of sexual encounters of my life. We were flying high from our success with Vanesa, and it had manifested itself in our fucking. We’d started out hard and fast, and it had only gotten better from there.

I knew, from the photoshoot that his chest was hairless, but I was surprised to discover he was hairless everywhere below the neck. He was my first shaven, uncut man, and for reasons I couldn’t explain, it had turned me on in a big way. I had gone beyond myself, taking him deeper into my mouth than I’d ever been able to take a man before. As I worked him over, I’d learned that was part of his grooming and he wasn’t naturally hairless because I could detect the faintest trace of a stubble as I kissed and licked his body.

After we’d finished round one, we’d snuggled. I recalled how Julie, the waitress he’d bedded, had said he didn’t make her feel like a whore. I thought it was an interesting choice of words at the time, but now I understood. I’d had my share of one or two-night stands, but Neil was different. After we were spent, we snuggled, and he seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Even more so, he talked to me amidst his soft touches and gently kisses. He treated me like a long-time lover, not some woman he’d just bedded for the first time and didn’t know if he’d ever see again. He was funny and gentle, and made me feel special and appreciated.

It had taken him about fifteen minutes to recharge, but then oh…my…God! We were both wound tight during out first encounter, which hadn’t lasted long, but the second time… My sleepy smile spread as I remembered.

He’d fucked me frontwards, backwards, right side up, upside down, and inside out. He’d taken me repeatedly, throwing me around in his big bed like I was nothing but a bag of feathers. He’d taken me in positions only made possible by his tremendous strength and flexibility. As I watched his muscles twist and ripple under his sweat-soaked skin, stared into his face and eyes that were intense and somehow gentle at the same time, and listened to his passionate mutterings, grunts, moans, and pants, I would come so hard I wanted to cry out in pleasure I couldn’t contain.

We’d rolled and tumbled, bathed in sweat as he licked and kissed and caressed every inch of my flesh, fucking me like I’d never been fucked before. I was only moments from tapping out, spent from two hard orgasms, when he’d come again. I’d never been with a man who had come so hard before. I loved his sounds of passion, and he hadn’t disappointed, first loudly barking in completion then groaning softly as he shook and shuddered, squeezing me so tightly I thought I heard my ribs creak.

As he lay on me, panting like a bellows, aftershocks rippling through him as I dragged my nails gently along his broad, muscular back, I felt a deep sense of peace. He’d fucked me stupid, but I’d given as good as I got, and it thrilled me deeply that I’d been able to give him so much pleasure.

As before, we snuggled, but no words were necessary. We’d slowly caressed each other as we slid into sleep, and I was content. I awoke when he began to stir. We’d showered together, and once again he hadn’t disappointed. He’d bathed me, his lips slow and gentle, but the fact he didn’t try to bend me over in the shower touched me. I would have willingly given it up to him if he’d wanted it, but having him lovingly wash away our sweat and sex without asking for anything in return made me feel special, like I was more than a place for him to bury his cock.

He’d prepared a meal as we laughed and talked, but I intentionally avoided talking about the case and he didn’t bring it up. That too made our time feel special, as if he saw me as a person, not a means to an end.

We’d eaten and settled onto the couch to snuggle and watch television. Netflix and chill, they call it. We’d watched African Queen. I’d never seen the movie before, but I was going to have to watch it again, because before it was over, I was sitting in Neil’s lap, my legs to either side of his, as we kissed and touched, Kathern and Bogie forgotten.

I stretched with a groan and sighed deeply as I remembered our final encounter of the evening. Our leisurely kissing as the television played behind me had led to another round of love-making in his bed, and that’s what it was. We’d been fucking before, taking pleasure from each other, but the third time it was slower and sweeter as we gave pleasure and received it in turn. That had been the perfect topper. Neil was a lover of unparalleled skill and stamina. He could fuck me like a whore when I wanted it, and he could treat me as the most delicate flower when I was in the mood for that.

I’d only come once during our last time, and it wasn’t one of the face-melting, mind-twisting orgasms from before, but it had satisfied me in a way the hardest orgasms couldn’t. Afterwards, totally spent and wrung dry of need, I’d slept the sleep of angels, Neil’s soft, warm breath on my neck comforting me as I slid into the darkness.

I was aching slightly in the morning, but I wanted him. I wanted him like I’d never wanted a man before. I tried to decide if I wanted the fiery, hard fucking Neil, or the soft, gentle lover Neil. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I decided to have both. I was going to have him start gently, but I was going to have him finish by pounding the shit out of me.

I stretched again, the memories and the thoughts of pleasures to come making me ready and eager. I was going to wake him with—

“Good morning,” he whispered, caressing my face softly before taking my lips in a long, slow kiss, which was exactly what I wanted.

How did he know? Last night, how had he always known just what I wanted, what I needed? He pulled back from the kiss but held my gaze.

“You have the most beautiful eyes,” he murmured.

“You said that last night,” I whispered.

During our romp, he commented on my ass, my face, my breasts, how tight I was, how sexy I was, but he always came back to my eyes. Every time I caught his gaze, he was staring into my eyes.

“Because it’s true,” he breathed.

He kissed me again as he slowly moved over me. This was the gentle Neil, the loving Neil that I wanted. I opened myself to him, and he sank in deep, his passage causing a wave of pleasure to roll over me. I gripped him tightly, pulling him down onto me, wanting, needing to feel his skin against mine.

“You feel so good inside me,” I sighed into his ear as he settled and began to thrust slowly.

“I love how you feel,” he rumbled, his voice low and sexy.

We moved together, slowly, gently, giving and taking pleasure in equal measure. He began to speed up his thrusts. I couldn’t tell if he was matching my rising passions or driving them, but I didn’t care. I began to pant as my need squeezed me. He was holding me on the knife’s edge, slowly pushing me toward my climax, twisting me tight with slowly rising pleasure. My skin was hot as I sizzled with need unmet. If he fucked me harder, I’d explode in rapture and shorten our play, and my climax would slip away and spoil the exquisite torture he was inflicting on me. He was slowly raising the pressure, drawing out the delightful torment until I was ready to scream.

“Come on, baby. I want to feel you come,” he growled in my ear, his words like jam on toast, adding flavor and texture to our love-making.

I thrust at him as I whimpered, aching for my release. He burst into motion, pounding into me hard and fast. I cried out softly as the climax stalking me suddenly rushed me. I held him as tight as I could, my jaw clenched tight, my eyes squeezed shut, his steel cock pounding into me hard and fast. I couldn’t stand it! The feel of his hard, pounding thrusts wrecking me!

“Fuck…fuck, fuck…fuck!” I cried, throwing my head back as I was buried under an avalanche of pleasure.

I held onto him, my arms tight around him lest I get swept away and lost forever. He continued to pound into me. I whimpered in sweet agony, alive with pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, my words lost as I rode out the hard orgasm.

He lunged into me, a single vicious thrust as he drove himself incredibly deep, holding himself there as he grunted, his wetness filling me. I loved how he squeezed me tight, the tension in his body, his soft grunts of his release. We relaxed out of our orgasms at the same time, our sighs of relief mingling in the air between us.

“Fuck! You make me come so fucking hard,” he muttered softly before he took my lips in a slow kiss.

I sighed. I knew exactly how he felt. Rarely had I ever come as hard as I had with Neil, and never so often. As our lips slowly parted, I pulled his face into my shoulder. I wanted to hold him and be held. He sighed as he tucked his arms in around me, his breath warm on my neck. After a moment, he kissed my neck as he began to slowly thrust.

I sat in Neil’s apartment, digging on Harnette LLC and Edward Harnette. As Neil had guessed, Ed Harnette owned Harnette LLC.

I glanced up at him and smiled. After our tumble this morning, another snooze, and a leisurely shower together, he’d rehired me to dig into Harnette LLC. I wanted to go home and change, but he’d talked me into staying until after lunch. I’d found it more amusing than I probably should have when he pointed out I’d only worn my suit for a few hours yesterday. It was a little rumpled because I was too distracted to hang it when I’d disrobed yesterday, but it would do until after lunch. Besides, it felt kind of nice to be wanted.

Neil was talking on his phone. I’d had two voice messages, one from someone wanting to save me money on my office supplies, the other from Carol Gerryson. I deleted the first one and returned the second. I was to meet with Carol at three today to turn over what I had.

Neil, on the other hand, had forty-one voicemails. Most were from various new agencies wanting his comments now that Vanesa Pierce’s story had been discredited, but Harker had also called, apologized, and asked him to start training her again. He’d been more gracious with her than I would have been.

I forced my thoughts back to the case. It hadn’t taken long to find the papers Ed had filed with the state of California to form Harnette LLC. The company had been founded three years, eight months ago, and soon thereafter, had purchased the domain mycastingcall.com. The site had gone live six months later. I couldn’t find any hard numbers, but the site itself claimed to have fifty-thousand active members. The site was free to join for those looking for roles. Those looking for actors paid $9.99 a month for as long as the position was available.

I joined the site using the special email account I’d set up for things like this. They could send all the junk email they wanted there, and I’d never see it. It made my life a lot easier since I was a member of dozens, if not hundreds of websites just like with mycastingcall.com.

I poked around on the site. There didn’t appear to be a lot of activity. Maybe that was the motive. Ed wasn’t making it with his new business venture and wanted revenge. It seemed like a stretch, but the stupidity of people never ended.

I drummed my fingers on the table. I needed an angle, something I could use to hook Ed’s interest so he’d want to talk to me. I was still thinking it over when Neil hung up.

“Whew. That’s the last of the people I want to talk to. You ready for lunch?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” I muttered, still puzzling over my in with Ed. “What are we having?”

“I thought I’d have you but decided we had work to do.”

He’d delivered the joke so deadpan it almost went over my head. “That’s fine. I’ll have—what?” I asked and burst into giggles. “Naughty.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to have to fire you again so soon, either.”

I rose to my feet, enjoying his teasing. “Good. Having to draw up and complete a new contract would suck.”

“She said suck,” he said, his voice low and evil before a soft villain’s laugh escaped him.

“I’ll suck on something,” I murmured in a cadence and tone I didn’t even know I had, my voice dripping sex.

I slid into his arms and he kissed my lips. Carrying out my threat, I sucked softly on his bottom lip before he returned the favor. Goddammit! He’d fucked the shit out of me last night and again this morning, but his slow easy kiss was turning me on again.

“That’s enough,” I whispered, stepping back.

“You okay?” he asked, his eyes matching the concern in his voice.

I smiled. “Oh yeah, but I have work to do later and I’m having enough trouble concentrating without you getting me all worked up again.”

He smiled, the apprehension vanishing from his face as if it had never been there. “So long as that’s all it is.”

I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t resist, so I pulled his lips back to mine for a slow, though less erotic kiss. “That’s all it is,” I breathed as our lips parted. “So, what are we having for lunch?”

“Well, I thought I’d have you, but…” I glared at him with a faint smile, and he chuckled. “How does pan-seared salmon with kale and apple salad sound?”

“You’re kidding? For lunch?”

“What?” he asked in obvious confusion.

“You don’t have to impress me,” I told him with a smile. If he was going to zing me, I was going to zing him right back. “You did that last night.”

He grinned. “Wait until tonight then. As for lunch, that’s easy. Thirty, forty minutes, start to finish. If you want something else…?”

“No, no, that’s fine. It just seems, I don’t know, fancy for lunch. I’m used to sandwiches or maybe a salad.”

His grin spread. “Sandwiches…bad for you. Salads…boring.”

“What would you have if I weren’t here?”

“Pan-seared salmon with kale and apple salad.”

I gave up, but I was thoroughly enjoying our verbal jousting. “I’ll have that.”

He winked at me. “Good choice.”

I went back to work on my problem while he stirred around in the kitchen. Good to his word, thirty-eight minutes later, he was setting two plates on the table, and it smelled divine. I could, and did cook, but there wasn’t much doubt who had the better culinary skills.

We had lunch, talking about how suddenly everyone was rallying to his side in support. Maybe I didn’t have to bust Ed’s balls, but I was feeling very protective of Neil this morning. I wanted to put an end to the rumors, once and for all, to prevent Ed, or anyone else, from trying this shit in the future.

After lunch, and a very pleasant kiss goodbye, I left and hurried home for a change of clothes. Refreshed, I went to my office, arriving only minutes before Carol. The meeting went just like all these meetings do, a lot of tears and soul searching. She couldn’t understand why her husband of over fifteen years was having an affair. She still loved the asshole and couldn’t understand what she’d done to drive him into the arms of another. I’d previously wondered if she would be more or less hurt that Dick was fucking another man. I had my answer. She was devastated by the revelation and questioned her worth as a woman.

I tried to console her, but I wasn’t very good at it. This was by far the worst part of my job, and it ripped my heart out each and every time I had to do it. When I was working with Dad he always dealt with the clients, which insulated me from the anger and heartbreak. I had no idea the favor he was doing me until he wasn’t around to do it anymore. Now I had to watch lives being destroyed first-hand. What had just been a job before suddenly became very personal.

The first few times I’d cried right along with the client, but I’d toughened up in the past year. The anger was easier for me to handle than the heartbreak. Now I could hold back my tears, but this was a tough one because Carol was so completely gutted.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “Can I call someone to come get you?”

She shook her head as she sniffed. “No,” she gasped, trying to gather herself. She looked at me, her eyes red and puffy, my tissue box greatly depleted. “No, I’ll be alright.” She swallowed hard. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing. I’ll figure your final bill, and there’ll probably be a small refund. I’ll mail that to you in the next few days. He wasn’t very careful, so it was an easy job. It didn’t take as long as I’d expected.”

She nodded her thanks as she picked up the large envelope with the photos inside. “I’m sorry.”

She was apologizing for being heartbroken. I gave her a sad smile so I wouldn’t cry. “You have every right to be upset. Are you sure there’s no one I can call? A taxi?”

She shook her head again and turned from me without another word. I watched through my door until she drove away and returned to my office. I sat in my chair, my head against the back, until the urge to cry for what I’d done passed. I was just doing a job, but it was a job that I hated sometimes.