“No, Andy, of course I know that,” I sighed into the phone. “I just have no idea how long this is going to take.”

I listened to my boss prattle on for a while longer, half-listening as I gazed around the new apartment.

Despite my abrupt exit from the company two months earlier, Andy had taken my apology with surprising grace.

“I knew something was up,” he told me confidently. “You wouldn’t talk to me like that under normal circumstances.”

I didn’t tell him that I constantly talked to him in my head like that, but I was relieved to know I wasn’t out of a job.

Truthfully, I had been torn between where to go.

Of course my life was in Washington but was Seattle really child-friendly? Sure, many of my friends had been married with kids, happily raising their families in the suburbs but I had never given it any thought.

Why would I? I had never considered such a life for myself.

Now I have to completely restructure and reconsider everything.

I thought about the late nights I put in at work, the ridiculously early mornings and wondered how they were going to affect Alex.

I’m going to have to cut back on my hours.

Andy had been kind enough to allow me to work remotely but I knew that it was only a temporary fix.

I needed to be in the office sooner rather than later.

“All right, Andy. I have to go now,” I finally told the CEO, tired of his ramblings. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

I hadn’t mentioned to him that I had rented a three-bedroom apartment in Oriental. I didn’t want to give him the sense that I was putting down roots in North Carolina.

Because I’m not, I assured myself. I am only staying here until the house sells.

Lying to myself seemed to come more naturally those days. It was easier than admitting that I was considering staying in Oriental.

If I wasn’t, there was no reason to uproot Alex from her school in Minnesott Beach. There was certainly no cause to rent a unit in the heart of Oriental, one which I knew was remarkably close to Vyolet Viera’s own condo.

What are you doing?

It was a constant question in the back of my mind, one for which I had no answer.

I knew that when I was with Oscar’s beautiful daughter, I fought the urge to put my hands on her at every opportunity, a desire that I never seemed to suppress.

Since the afternoon we were together, I had found it impossible to push her out of my mind.

Several times I had picked up the phone to call her but resisted, unsure of what to say.

Should I ask her out for dinner? Should I just call and talk to her?

They seemed like such lame options considering the passion we had shared, and I knew inevitably, we would wind up back in each other’s arms.

Pursuing her was such a bad idea, I knew that logically, but I was not thinking with my mind.

Apartment hunting had been an excuse to see Vyolet again. I had half-hoped that when I laid eyes on her, the fire I felt in my gut would have diminished some.

I was wrong.

If anything, it was worse, and I was filled with an intensity so great, it had taken every fiber of my being not to kiss her luscious lips in the middle of Starbucks.

What is this hold she has on me? I wondered.

It was a combination of her sweet innocence, her stunning beauty and her submissiveness which drove me completely wild.

I will stay in Oriental for a couple more months until the dust settles, I promised myself. When I am thinking more clearly, I will take Alex home with me.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me that I was fooling myself. Staying in North Carolina would only make things worse, especially since I had fixated on Vyolet so intently.

Over the past week, she had helped me with securing the furnished unit, coming over often to add her womanly touch to the modern but cold space.

Several nights, she brought groceries and made dinner for us before getting Alex ready for bed with a bath and story.

She’s amazing with children. Alex is going love being in her class, I thought, watching her admiringly as she stroked my niece’s dark hair and flipped through “The Owl and the Pussycat”.

A strange feeling floated through me as I watched them, as if I had slid into a parallel universe and was staring at some other life I had fallen into unwittingly.

But it didn’t feel foreign. It felt familiar and warm like it was something I had always longed for but never quite had.

After Alex would be settled in for the night, Vyolet would venture back into the living room and curl into my arms where we would watch old movies and eventually make love on the sofa.

I would always carry her into the bedroom where we would tangle ourselves up again into a pile of legs and arms, melting into dark pools of ecstasy.

My eyes would always dart toward the closet where my trove of goodies waited to explore her tender skin.

Not yet, I whispered to myself every night. Maybe tomorrow.

I sat back at the dining room table and glanced at my watch.

It was almost three o’clock and I needed to pick up Alex from school.

As I rose, the door opened, and I tensed.

“Who’s there?” I called.

“It’s just me,” Vyolet called back, entering the room.

She wore a long raincoat, the collar pulled up around her slender neck and her black boots sprinkled with droplets of water.

“What are you doing home so early?” I asked in surprise. “I was just leaving to pick up Alex.”

She smiled demurely and shook her head.

“My mom came to get her already. It was a half day for teacher preparation.”

I frowned.

“Did you tell me that?” I asked in confusion. “I don’t remember hearing anything about that.”

She shook her head and drew near, releasing her long hair from the loose ponytail at back of her head.

Without a word, she began to undo her coat and I felt my breath catch in my chest.

“No,” she replied. “I didn’t tell you. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

As the overcoat fell away, I saw she wore nothing but a black lace teddy and garter beneath.

“Oh,” I breathed. “I see.”

I reached up to yank her toward me, burying my face in her bosom to inhale her sweet-smelling skin as I pulled the outer garment away from her lithe body.

She giggled, wrapping her hands around my hair and rubbing my head teasingly but I was not in a cutesy mood.

Without warning, I grabbed her by her full buttocks, ensnaring her long legs around my waist and seizing her blonde tresses in my hand, my mouth suctioning onto her throat.

Vyolet gasped as I tightened my grip on her, walking her into the bedroom where I threw her onto the bed almost violently.

She stared up at me with surprised blue eyes, but she was growing accustomed to our rough, intense sessions and she seemed to be daring me to do my worst.

Little did she know that I had been planning on it for weeks.

She spread her legs wider, so I caught a glimpse of her pink center, her hand falling between her thighs to touch herself.

Oh how much she has grown sexually in the past weeks, I marveled, biting on my lower lip to stare at her. She would never have thought about massaging her most intimate spots like that even two weeks earlier.

I pounced on her, crushing her to the bed as I reached over to grab her wrists, pinning them above her head.

My teeth nibbled along the contours of her face as my free hand took over where she had left off, rubbing the wetness of her middle with long, gruff strokes.

She mewled slightly, and the noise made me grow hard beneath my jeans.

I pulled her up toward the nightstand, my finger slipping inside her for effect and Vyolet yelped at the sudden thrust as her body moved.

I withdrew my hand and reached across her, keeping her arms firmly in place as I pulled something from the table drawer.

“What is that?” she murmured, craning her neck to see but I did not have to answer as I bound her wrists together with a silk scarf, one I had used to blindfold her many times before.

I savored the look of uncertainty on her face as I drew the knots tight and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her quietly. She nodded, her blue eyes wide with faith and my erection grew more tumescent.

I sat back, pulling off my t-shirt as a small sweat began to build over my pecs and I was once again taken aback by the surreal loveliness of the beauty sprawled before me.

Her face reflected the naked yearning she had for me to take her, but we were nowhere near that point, not yet.

She reached up to touch my chest with her tied hands, but I tossed her back, shaking my head.

“No,” I told her firmly. “You can’t touch.”

Her pupils dilated, and she nodded meekly.

“Okay,” she whispered. I ripped at the lace of her bodice, listening to her gasps of shock as her breasts spilled out, her nipples tight.

I lowered my head to taste them, biting at them, gently at first but increasing the pressure until she cried out.

My mouth worked down the satiny skin of her flat stomach, noting that she was already trembling while I snatched the remnant of the material from her body and cast it aside.

I slipped to the edge of the bed, pulling off my jeans and boxers, my eyes locking on hers intensely.

Suddenly I turned away from her, pulling open the closet door and I saw her straining to see what I was doing.

“No one told you to move,” I snapped, and she flopped back down obediently, her thighs parted, arms above the glorious crown of hair.

Inside the walk-in closet, I removed a black duffle bag, placing it on the floor, out of her view.

I removed the proper blindfold, stepping around the side of the king mattress to slip it over her eyes.

“What are you doing?” she gasped, and I could hear the tremor in her voice.

“No speaking,” I ordered, and she immediately clamped her lips together. I reached back into the bag and withdrew a long cord, pulling her arms up to secure her to the wrought iron headboard.

She shivered, gooseflesh prickling her skin. I ensured the binds were tight enough and I waited, knowing the anticipation of what was about to happen was excruciating.

Vyolet did not make a sound but for her short, nervous breaths.

Her excited apprehension only fueled my titillation and I could no longer wait.

I removed yet one more item from the depth of the bag and placed it on the bed before slowly running my palms over her feet and calves.

She seemed to relax at my tender touch and I leaned forward, placing her manicured big toe in my mouth, sucking on it lovingly as my hands continued to massage her legs.

She tittered as my mouth widened to include the other toes, licking at them fully.

I moved onto her other foot and she seemed more confident, raising her calf to help stuff her foot into my mouth.

I smiled to myself, working my way over the tops of her feet, around her ankles and onto her shins.

I did not want to leave one inch of her body unexplored and with each kiss I placed on her body, she seemed to melt more into the mattress, her arms relaxing against the bonds.

As I made my way up her thighs, slowly licking around the damp core and inhaling her intoxicating scent, I paused, running my fingertips along the skin of her hips and dipping them back to tickle her lower lips.

I flipped around, my waist at her face, my hot breath on her cleft.

When I felt her lips meet my shaft, I knew we were ready to play dangerously.