At first, Anna worried a bit that this relationship – or whatever it was – wasn't going to pan out because of the fact that they already worked so closely together. She thought they'd get tired of each other quickly, maybe start to get on each other's nerves, and perhaps she'd even end up having to leave, which would have devastated her.

But that was not what happened at all.

He'd mentioned it when he'd fucked her that first time, but she was so distracted by what he was doing to her – that any of it was happening between them at all, really – that she hadn't retained it. Dev didn't want their currently merged private lives to affect work, and, for the most part, it didn't.

She still went home to her own place, if they got together on a weeknight – and, although, at first, he tried to restrict their dates that weren't dates to the weekends, it inevitably began to bleed into the rest of the week. But Anna always got up and went home – always on two legs that could barely hold her after hours of him alternately scourging and fucking her – often in the middle of the night, which meant that he got up, too, and followed her home, regardless of her protests that he didn't need to do that.

And she secretly loved it when he was that protective of her.

They met in his office first thing in the morning every morning, went over figures, talked about what was going on for the day, and tackled everything together, just like they always had. If something cropped up that she couldn't handle herself, she brought it to Dev's attention, but otherwise, she had full rein to do what he knew she needed to do. She was good at what she did, and he trusted her implicitly.

Just as she was beginning to trust him when they were together. He did his best to remember to be cognizant of the facts that this was a completely new type of relationship for her on many levels, and although they'd been friends, this was different from that – this was a completely different kind of trust, one deeper seated even than being lovers. She, essentially, put her life in his hands when he held her immobile, or bound her to the bed – in order to truly let go and commit to the experience whole heartedly, she had to know, without the slightest concern, that he wasn't going to take her to a bad place or abuse her in any way.

Not that he didn't test her limits, he did. But she was always at the forefront of his mind. He didn't start out tying her down, or whipping her, or being severe with her in any way. Strict, yes. Severe, no. He knew that she needed to feel that what he did came from a place of affection and caring – not that he was just trying to get his jollies with her.

Dev had always paid attention to everything; he was a detail-oriented man and that had served him well in business. He was a young businessman on his way up, and he had his fingers in a ton of different pies – all of which he kept flowing smoothly by listening and remembering the fine points of contracts and policies. He had a very intense personality, and, at first, Anna sometimes had a hard time when those heavy black eyes landed on her while she was talking to him at work or sitting in a meeting with him. She'd fidget and lose her train of thought and rearrange herself in her seat, and he wasn't one to just ease up on her or move on to something or someone else. He made her get her shit together when she spoke to him, never letting her off the hook easily.

As he didn't in their personal life together.

And he liked knowing that he disturbed her like that – because he did it deliberately, at least once a day, just to see her get flustered in a way she never used to with him. She had always been so self-possessed before, but now he could disrupt her thoughts, simply by looking at her intently.

She'd always known he had a strong protective streak – she'd been on the receiving end of it occasionally, usually when he was bitching about where she lived – but she'd never known how much of a caretaker he was until, not long after they'd gotten together, he'd summoned her to his place rather than picking her up. They were going to a party at a mutual friend's house, and he usually swung by her place to pick her up on the way, but he wanted to see her beforehand.

Dev had told her that he was going to make it one of her rules that she must always be in a skirt or dress when they were together, but he didn't want to cause her a financial hardship and had offered – in what he thought was a gentlemanly fashion – to buy her some new dresses.

He had been soundly smacked for his efforts and informed, in no uncertain terms, that although he was her Dom, he was not her sugar daddy and he never would be and that she would accommodate him as best she could, without any financial assistance from him...

He had redeemed himself almost instantly as he'd brailed his way to his favorite moist, hot spot on her body by telling her that he liked to have her wear dresses and skirts, which she didn't usually, because he said she had great legs and it was easier to get between them if she wasn't in pants.

Far from being insulted by him saying such a thing, she had always just blushed in a manner that he seemed to find charming, but she knew was completely unbecoming and made her look like a stop light with hair – although she knew better than to say something like that to him.

He was quite likely to spank her for it, as she'd found out previously.

Anna had arrived the way he had told her she was required to – in a loose, pretty sundress. She hadn't taken more than one step into his place before he drew her into a hug, but then he held her at arm's length immediately, scrutinizing her closely and giving her a concerned look, pressing his hand to her forehead as if he was checking to see if she had a fever. "You don't look like you feel very well, honey."

"I don't," she admitted, slumping against him as if she was too tired to hold herself up.

But she didn't need to – that was what he was for – and she found herself swung up into his arms.

"What's the matter, pretty girl?" he asked, more worried than he wanted to admit as he walked with her – bridal style – into his bedroom. Anna was never sick. He didn't think she'd taken a sick day since he'd hired her. She was like him – she thrived on work. Hell, he'd had to take her home once when she'd come in with walking pneumonia, the little fool!

"Nothing serious, I'm fine," came her lackluster answer.

He put her down in the middle of the big king-sized bed he'd bought just a few weeks ago. The first time they'd actually slept in it together had immediately made him wonder if he hadn't made a mistake – besides the fact that there was barely enough room to walk around it. Yes, his feet didn't hang off the end like they had with his other one, which was probably about as old as he was, but its tiny area had forced her to sleep within arm's length of him, which he found he enjoyed and missed when the enormous new bed allowed her to sleep quite separate from him.

An arm around her waist kept her close to him as he lay down next to her and turned her face to his. "Don't lie to me," he warned, and she had learned to listen carefully when he said something like that in that tone. He rarely yelled – he didn't need to – he was, when he needed to be, a big, physically imposing man, and when he thought the situation warranted it, he didn't hesitate to throw his weight around. But he had never yelled at her in their work or, now, their private lives together.

As her Dom, if she did something that displeased him, he took it out of her hide, impressing upon her very quickly that disobeying would have very real, serious consequences beyond his displeasure with her.

"I'm not. It isn't serious, and I am fine."

His eyes narrowed and her heart began to thump against her ribs. "Spill, Stinkerbell. You're so white you look as if you're about to pass out any minute."

She was blushing now, and that confused him. Very little made her blush – except the intimate things she did with him or he made her do to him or he wouldn't allow her to stop him from doing to her.

After heaving a put upon sigh, she avoided meeting his eyes as she admitted, "Okay, okay. I'm having cramps. Happy?"

One bushy eyebrow went up. "I could do without the sarcasm, young lady," he chided. "Especially since I'm just trying to make sure you're not sick."

"I'm sorry." She really was. Bitchiness wasn't her strong suit. Snark, yes. Bitchiness, no.

Dev held her chin in his hand, tilting it up so that he had her eyes. "Is this the most comfortable position for you?" he asked solicitously.

One bad habit she had – that had become more apparent with the new aspects of their relationship – that he was trying to break her of was that she hated to inconvenience anyone, especially him, in even the smallest of ways. She hated to be the center of attention, and now she was always the center of his. He didn't know if it stemmed from low self-esteem or what, but he wasn't about to put up with it, regardless.

"Well…"

"On your side with your legs up?" he suggested, gently arranging her that way without waiting for her to answer. "I want you to get into whatever position is the most comfortable for you and relax as much as you can."

"But we'll be late to for Putt's party – I know how you hate to be late for anything." Putt was the head of security, and his parties were legendary. Anna struggled to sit up, but lay back down immediately at the stern look he gave her from where he was standing at the end of the bed.

"Putt throws a party damned near every weekend. We'll make it to the next one. You should have called me and let me know you weren't feeling well, baby girl."

Even through her misery, she clenched at that tone, and, as much as she didn't want to admit it, at that nickname, which made her heart swell when she knew it shouldn't.

"I would have picked you up and brought you back here with me. I'm going to take care of you, and you're going to be a good girl and do exactly as you're told, aren't you?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" she pouted.

"I am putting it that way, missy, and don't you forget it. All you need to do this evening is relax and do exactly as you are told and feel better. You don't even have to think. I'll take care of everything, especially you." His eyebrow was up, and that was never a good sign. "In what position should you be, little one?" he asked pointedly.

"My most comfortable one," she parroted back, knowing that was what she was supposed to do.

Both eyebrows up, because she was still half sitting up, grumbling not so quietly under her breath – but not saying anything intelligible – she arranged herself on her right side with her legs up. It did ease the ache in the small of her back, as well as lessening the cramps themselves a bit.

"Good girl," he praised quietly. "Now, what pain reliever works best for your cramps? I got 'em all. Tylenol? Motrin? Aleve? Aspirin?"

"Motrin, please."

His palm appeared before her eyes moments later, with two familiar looking pills in it. She sat up again, just a bit, surprised when he handed her a glass of wine with which to wash them down.

"Is this a good idea?" she asked, hesitating a bit.

Dev smiled. "Well, I'm not trying to kill you, if that's what you're concerned about. If you were going to take a huge handful of Motrin and swallow them down with a vat of wine, then no, but you won't have any more painkillers for six to eight hours, and this is one small glass of wine. I don't want to get you soused; I'm just using it as a muscle relaxer."

When she was through, he put the wine glass in the headboard where it would be convenient to her.

"I want you to finish that, Anna."

She wasn't much for the taste of wine and made a face at his order.

"And what are you going to do?"

Anna sighed. "Finish it."

"Exactly. Close your eyes, hon. I have a few things I want to get done, but I'll just be in the other room, and I'll come back in here and hold you as soon as I can." Dev leaned down and kissed her temple, then, after closing the curtains and turning of the lights, he left.

If her cramps would just calm down, she'd be able to sleep, but it didn't seem like they were going to cooperate, despite his lovely efforts.

When he came back in, only a few minutes later, he lit a clean linen candle that bathed the room in a warm glow, undressed her completely – allowing her to move only minimally – then did the same thing for himself before climbing onto the bed behind her and pressing a heating pad over her lower tummy.

"Is there anything I can get you? Anything else I can do to help you feel better?"

It was very unlike her, but she put it down to the date when her eyes filled with tears at his thoughtfulness.

"No, thank you."

Suddenly, the wine glass appeared in front of her eyes, and she obediently took a large sip.

"This should be empty by now, Anna honey."

Ignoring the urge to cringe a bit at the scolding, she whined, "I'm working on it!"

"Work a little harder, then, darlin'."

She took another swig, then his fingers began to massage her shoulders, and she groaned aloud.

"I'm just going to massage here and there – let me know if there's someplace you want me to avoid, besides the obvious, or someplace you want me to concentrate on," he offered.

No man had ever treated her like this – usually she was the caretaker – God forbid he got a cold – the world ended! It felt a bit uncomfortable for no reason she could put her finger on, but his fingers were working miracles and she didn't want him to stop!

Eventually, she grew relaxed enough from all of his tending that she actually said, "C – Would you do my lower back? If I have cramps, I have a lower backache – they seem to come in pairs. But – just be very gentle, because I have an old injury there and it's really easy to hurt me."

"Of course, honey," he soothed. And, when he made his unhurried way down there, he kept his touch extremely light and gentle. Especially at first, then, very gradually, he began to rub more thoroughly, but always listening and watching her attentively for clues as to whether he was helping or hurting, cursing himself the few times he'd been a bit too eager and she'd flinched away from his touch.

But he was persistent and learned from his mistakes, and, eventually, she grew so relaxed she didn't even notice when he slipped her top leg back over his and opened her up to him; he did it so carefully and slowly. She didn't even really notice anything different until the hand that had been massaging her shoulders and down her arms ended up on her hip, and then slipped naturally down just a bit further to hold the core of her in his big palm.

"There is a pretty avid school of thought that says orgasms can help menstrual cramps, and I thought we'd test that theory." He kissed her ear as his fingers found her. She wasn't wet, as he'd found she usually was with him. But he had expected that and had dipped his fingers into a tub of coconut oil he kept in the headboard before he'd brought them to her. Her body heat melted it and slickened them very nicely, allowing him to slip them easily back and forth over her while just the presence of his outer fingers kept her accessible to him.

It took a little while longer than he'd experienced with her, and she began to squirm within his arms as if she wasn't into this at all.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked, stopping all movement.

Anna didn't answer him immediately, bending forward, away from him and saying softly, in a way he knew meant she hoped he wouldn't hear her, "Noooooooooo…"

"Put your ear next to mine." This forced her to straighten up and press herself back against him, giving him even further access to her. "Are you hurting too much for this to feel good?" he asked, taking advantage of her position to reach down to find incontrovertible evidence to the contrary before she even answered him.

She was soaking wet, but he wasn't going to let her get off that easy.

"Anna, even though I already have my answer, you know by now that I expect you to answer me when I ask you a question, and that I am not at all fond of waiting for you to do so…"

"No," she answered petulantly.

"No what?"

Another heavy sigh. "No, you're not hurting me, and, no, I'm not hurting too much for it to feel good."

"Then why are you acting as if you want to get away from me when you know I'm not going to let you go until you've come hard at least a handful of times – to see if it helps your cramps?"

And because he wanted to, she knew he didn't say – he loved to watch her writhing in ecstasy – and she wasn't allowed to say no to him without a very good reason. Anna imagined that trying to escape his arms was tantamount to telling him no, in his book.

"Because…" She wished she thought he would just leave it at that, but she knew better. "Because the cramps do distract me a bit, and I'm taking way too long to get there."

"Anna!" He sounded truly disappointed in her, and that made her heart and her stomach twist right along with her uterus. "You know I don't run a timer in my head about these things, just like I don't keep score about how many times I've come as opposed to you. It takes however long it takes, and there's little else I'd rather be doing than bringing you pleasure and helping you feel better at the same time. Hell, I'd rather touch you much more than I'd rather touch myself, woman."

Hard arms tightened around her. "So no more of that talk. Ever. If you felt better, I'd be giving you a spanking about now. But I think that's contraindicated, for the evening, anyway."

He adjusted her back into position, brought her wrists above her head and held them there because he knew how much she enjoyed being helpless against what was being done to her. Then he put his free hand back where it belonged – touching her, teasing her, doing his best to adjust his movements by the gasps and whimpers that his fingers wrung from her, adoring the way she trembled against him. Her hips pressed her up against the source of her desire, he leaned down to bite the back of her neck then around to just below her earlobe as he forced her to lose control. Forced her to surrender herself – her pleasure – to him, vowing to himself as he heard her fighting against herself not to scream, that he would soon have a place where she could scream her head off and no one would call the police.

Or come to her rescue.

She felt his satisfied growl against her ear, even though she could feel how unsatisfied he really was. "God you are even more gorgeous than usual when you come – I wish I could just keep you in a constant orgasmic state."

He did the best he could on that – bringing her to peak after peak until she begged him to stop, then he brought her to one more, and that seemed to be the hardest of all of them.

And he never once made her feel as if she had any kind of obligation – even as his submissive – to help him with the powerful erection she could feel pressing against her rear end.

Knowing Anna didn't like to leave lube all over herself, Dev left her momentarily to return with a warm, wet cloth, with which he tended to her like a child as she lay there with an arm thrown over her face to hide her embarrassment. She wondered if she'd ever really get used to the way he so naturally did such personal things for her.

"Sleepy?" He had learned that sometimes orgasms put her right to sleep, sometimes they energized her, and it was only about seven or so. "Feeling any better?"

She smiled, and that instantly made him feel better, he didn't know about her. "Not particularly, and I think I do. The cramps are still there, but they're not as ferocious as they were."

He kissed her cheek. "I'm glad."

"Thank you for taking care of me, Dev."

"Of course, baby. And it's not over yet. You just rest, and I'll be right back. We'll watch whatever you want on TV." Dev was not a TV person – besides the occasional documentary on World War II, which he was a bit of an amateur historian about. Movies were okay, but he would never voluntarily sit down to binge watch anything – as she was wont to do – so this was a big concession.

When he returned, it was with a big tray. One of those on which breakfast in bed was usually served – and he plunked it down over her, laden with all sorts of things he was trying to encourage her not to eat, although he had yet to make it mandatory when she wasn't with him—soda, chocolate, chips, and Chinese food. Her favorite, General Tso's, was there, its sauce laden with sugar, with pork fried rice to put it over, two tubes of plain Pringles, which he wouldn't have touched with someone else's mouth, and an enormous bag of Rolos.

Somewhere in this mess was his steamed broccoli and chicken over brown rice, but it was lost – overwhelmed by a forest of bad food.

He'd used one of those delivery services that would go wherever you wanted them to get all the different things, and it hadn't been cheap, but it had made her smile, so it was more than worth it as far as he was concerned.

Dev gave her a bowl and a spoon and told her to go to town, but warned her that as of midnight all of this food would turn into pumpkin seeds, kale, and tofu, so she'd best enjoy it while she was allowed to have it.

But she didn't dive immediately into the food, or the chocolate, or the potato chips. Instead, she turned towards him and hugged him. "I know I said it before, but thank you so much for taking such wonderful care of me." Anna's eyes flitted to his, then down again. "I don't know what I thought having a Dom would be like, but I know it wasn't this."

He was glad she was looking down – she didn't catch his blush at her words. "Well, I hate to see you feeling badly. And I know, as much as you wanted this, that it hasn't been easy on you, nor have I. So every once in a while, you deserve to be spoiled."

Anna hugged him harder at that, then turned back towards the food and clicked the TV on to Netflix. "Yay! Red Dwarf!"

"Yay," Dev repeated, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, which got him smacked yet again.

Eventually, maybe, he'd learn what caused that…