"Yeah. That doesn't bother you, does it?"
"Uh, no, I guess… Wait. Yes, that does bother me. Who are all these other guys? You know, I could catch something here."
For the second time that day, El realized she hadn't made her lover wear a condom. What was she thinking? Bob was right. “All of the men are healthy and respectable. I'm not a street hooker.” She shrugged. “But from now on, you should probably bring some condoms. I normally make my lovers wear condoms, but something about you just made me forget."
The flattery pleased him. “Well, all right then."
"Well, I've got to get back to work.” She pulled out the cellphone and dialed Jack's number. “Hello, Mr. Sawyer? It's me. I'm all done here."
"Good. How did it go?"
"Fine. We came to an arrangement about the commission."
El rubbed her clit with her free hand while she chatted, completely unaware that Bob was staring at her all the time. When she hung up, she caught his expression. “What?"
"You were masturbating while you talked to your boss."
"Oh, that. Yes, he orders me to do that."
"He orders you to?"
"Yes."
"Do you do anything he orders you to do?"
"Pretty much.” She didn't want to get into a philosophical discussion about her limits. They seemed to be expanding all the time anyway.
"What if I ordered you to do something?"
El smiled. “You can only order me to fuck you, once a day for the next five months. That's all.” She dressed and headed for the door.
"Wait, I have one more question."
"Yes?” She turned, her hand on the knob of the house that used to be home.
"Where will you live, after the house is sold?"
"Oh. I'll be moving in with Jack. He'll probably be handling all the arrangements, the moving, the sale, you know."
"You'll be living with him? But, won't that affect our deal? I mean, won't he object?"
"Object? Hell, this was his idea! No, it won't matter. He's not going to watch. That's not his thing."
She left Bob standing there shaking his head and went out to wait for Jack.
CHAPTER 12
As she had expected, El got a call from Roger, the straight-laced equipment-maker. She was sitting at her desk, naked, of course, her pussy satiated for the time being from a new client-John or Steve-she couldn't really remember. After a bit of small talk, Roger offered to sit with her and “counsel” her the following night, and she readily accepted.
Jack told her to wear something sexy, but not slutty-at least for now. Fortunately, he'd kept most of her old clothes, just for this purpose. She put on a white (virginal) blouse and a knee-length tan skirt. She asked about underwear, but Jack didn't think it would be necessary.
They met at Roger's church, which was deserted except for a Bible study group in one room. Roger took her into a spare office on the other side of the church “so they wouldn't be disturbed.” They sat opposite each other, knees nearly touching.
They talked for a time about El's difficult childhood. She hadn't gotten enough affection, she told him, sniffling into a tissue. She let Roger touch her whenever he wanted, under the guise of consoling her when she described a particularly difficult moment in her life. She was a good actress and needed a lot of consoling.
When Roger “accidentally” brushed one of her breasts as he reached to hug her, El grabbed his hand and pressed it against her. Roger seemed surprised, and started to pull away, but then he felt the nipple ring. He stopped and asked her why she did that to herself.
"It makes me feel sexy and worthy of a man's love,” she told him. When she saw the unasked question on his lips, she added, “I could show it to you, if it's not too sinful for you to bear."
"Oh, no, my child,” he replied, a little too eagerly. “Nothing you do under the eyes of God is sinful if you don't have lust or hate in your heart."
With that, El unfastened her blouse and let one breast peek through. Roger had stared at it a long time before he reached out and touched the ring, carefully. El could see the nipple swell to its full length. He tugged it gently, causing El to tingle all over.
"You're not wearing a bra,” he said. “Why not?"
El almost told him that Jack doesn't let her, but caught herself in time. “They're too confining, especially with the rings."
"So you have a matching set, then?” Clearly, he wanted El to show him her other breast, and she obliged. When both breasts emerged from her blouse, his breath flowed into his lungs like someone coming out of the ocean after a long dive. He placed his hands on her breasts like they were gifts from God. Which, in fact, they were. Then El leaned in close.
"There's one more,” she whispered and from his expression, she knew right away she had him.
He covered it well. He feigned ignorance of such things, pretending that she must have been talking about a navel piercing. When she said the words “clit ring” his eyes widened and she could almost hear a choir of angels in the background.
"I've never seen such a thing,” he said softly. El believed him.
"Would you like to see one?"
"Well, I wouldn't… I mean, uh…” he stammered.
"No, it's all right. I feel very comfortable with you.” She pulled her skirt up and he goggled when he spotted her shaved pussy and shiny ring. She looked down and noticed her slit was expanding and filling with fluids.
"You don't wear underwear?"
"No, it interferes with my ring. It has to hang down like this to work."
He asked why she needed it and she explained that because she had felt abandoned in her youth, that sex gave her back that feeling of closeness. And the clit ring was a substitute for sex because she didn't have a man in her life. This was technically true-she had several.
"So if you had a man, would you remove it?"
"I don't know, Roger. It makes me feel so sexy all the time, I don't think my man would want me to, do you?"
"Er, may I touch it?"
"Of course.” She spread her legs apart.
He slid to the edge of his chair and brought one finger carefully to the bottom edge of the ring, trying not to touch her skin. But his finger bumped her clit, which was standing at full attention, as usual. When she jerked, he pulled back. “Did I hurt you?"
"Oh, no. It just makes me really… horny.” Sitting there with her breasts spilling out of her blouse, and her skirt pulled up, she cooed: “Am I a sinner, Roger?"
He stammered, working hard to placate her. “No, sex is not a sin, my child. It's God's greatest gift to us. And the wearing of jewelry is not a sin, per se. I think, however, that God would prefer you simply had sex the regular way than walk around with a device, you see."
"And if a lonely girl has no one? Then what should she do?"
"Uh, well, I don't know,” he said, staring at her charms. “Prayer, of course."
Ellen flipped down her skirt in disgust. Roger hurried on, “In your case, however, perhaps a substitute might be in order. Someone with experience, who had your best interests in mind, you know. Someone you wouldn't fall in love with because you are waiting for your true love to appear."
El smiled. “Where could I find someone like that, Roger?"
"Er, I'd be happy to counsel you, until you found a man your own age."
And that became their term for it: Counseling. He didn't even take off his clothes. He just unzipped his pants and fucked her, hard and fast, on the couch in the office. When he came, he shouted, “Glory, Hallelujah!” Rather than laugh at him, she shouted, “Oh God!"
The next day, Roger signed a contract with Jack, adding another ten percent to Sawyer's slice of business.
After that, El made weekly trips to Roger's church for “counseling,” which consisted of nothing more than several “Glory, Hallelujahs!” and “Oh Gods!” by both parties. El found his religious fever only added to his stamina. Not once did he ask her about birth control and not once did she ask him to use a condom.