"Mmmm. Oh fuck yes, baby. Squeeze my jewels, that's it. Yeah. Ssssss. Christ you are so fucking good at that, baby. Suck me... wait... what are you stopping for? What's wrong? What are you doing? Why are you putting your clothes back on?!"

"I think our business here is done," I coldly told Dino - fully aware of the state I was leaving him in. Looking around at the picnic layout - his M.O. with the sisters, I have learned - it was time to play hardball with this huckleberry.

Truth be told, I wanted nothing more at that moment than to suck that thick cock of his and make him howl, then beg him to put it inside me - anywhere...

But, enough was enough. Tired of the back and forth, the ambiguous details, the dodgy answers to my questions...

Although it was a dream of mine so many years ago to be a kept woman, to do as I please without having to *gasp* work - time had taught me that I required more from life. Instead, I learned that I needed to be my own person. I needed to depend on me for the basics, as looking to others only led me to places I didn't want to be.

College education not withstanding, I had managed to secure some freelance computer programming jobs. Tedious and boring, but still bringing in the bacon - I looked for an outlet to express my frustration. I took the advice of a college pal -turned-sometimes-fuckbuddy and signed on with a publishing house, registering all the songs I had written in high school and college.

Can you imagine the shock I got at seeing my first royalty check? People actually used my lyrics and/or musical arrangements. Mind you, I'm not the next Michael Kamen or Eric Clapton, but I did enjoy fooling around on the piano and acoustic guitar. I did...back then.

I quit my freelance work and lived on the royalty checks, going a bit wild, I admit. Wised up and hired an accountant who put me on an allowance and took care of my bills. Set up a plan for me to live comfortably within a certain means without having to work. What is the point of this history lesson? Be patient for a moment longer, please.

One word. B-O-R-I-N-G. Dating was useless. Socializing was a drag. I was convinced that everyone I came in contact with was a complete moron and being around them was just sucking the intelligence from me.

Now wait. That is an incredibly snotty statement to make, don't you think? 

Not really. It was simply the realization that all the people I associated with, at the time, were basically shallow, dull souls. I craved mental stimulation. I wanted a challenge. My creativity was drying up. Hours spent in my make shift studio in the basement proved fruitless. Freelance computer jobs were starting to look mighty tasty.

Enter Hando. Enter Perve World. Enter T & O. 

How is that for stimulation? Yes, it is true that I haven't written one damn note since I met Hando, but I have my belly full of challenges lately! I believe he thinks I had been surviving on a silver spoon inheritance that will soon dry up. It's the only reasoning I can find to explain his need to "take care" of me - hence the shop...the proposal...etc. Hando did ask about the basement. Wondered why the door was padlocked. 'Nothing down there but dust,' I had told him, 'the door wouldn't stay shut, so I locked it closed.'

Working for T&O as a computer expert (hacker) has been the highlight of my existence, outside of Hando. I was doing something meaningful. I was helping people, if only in a detached way. I felt needed. I felt important. I mattered. Enter my alter ego and the bag of joy she brought along. When Terry and Dino explained that I needed a hiatus from my job, I completely understood. I had tried to kill myself and Hando, for crissakes. Yeah, I imagine I was a risk to T & O.

Fast forward to the recent string of events. (It's coming, I promise...)

Called up Terry, asked when I could come back to work. 

Got the run around. 

Rang Dino. 

He said he needed to talk to Terry. 

Got frustrated. 

Got drunk. 

Dialed up Terry again. 

Said I needed a psychiatric evaluation. Standard procedure. 

Sure, had every shrink this side of the Mississippi probing my noodle, what's one more? 

Oh it was so typical - the Rorschach inkblot tests. The "what would I do in certain situations" evaluation. Didn't need a crib sheet for these. I had the answers down pat.

Called Terry daily - asking about my tests. 

Got the run around. 

Terry said, during his visit, that he needed to get with Dino about it. 

Been trying to get a straight answer out of Dino all week...

...which is what leads us here.

Dino, laying on the picnic blanket, Mr. Willie waving in the air. Me, putting my clothes back on preparing to walk back to the Temple before breaking down in tears completely.

He tucked in and zipped up, running to catch me. Grabbed my arm and swung me around. Oh, I had done it now. I had made him angry. 

Angry? Fuck, he was as pissed off as a steer with genital lice. I was thinking that this is what Ann must have meant when she used the term "ruffled". 

"What the fuck is your problem, Tina? You can't just do this - do you know what a prick tease is?" 

Stunned, I was speechless. Prick tease? Me? I guess that makes Terry and Dino both Sanity teases, huh? 

I jerked my arm away, pushed myself into his personal space and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. I waited for his reaction, staring him dead in the eye.

Holding is face, "Ok, I deserved that." His features softened and he cocked his head to the side. "What is wrong?" 

With an icy voice that I could have only learned from Hando, "What is wrong? Do you need me to draw you a map? Tell me Dino, is this all I'm good at? Sucking your dick? Is this how I best serve T&O? I've tired of all your sidestepping my questions. Can I or can I not come back to work - doing what I was doing before my life fell apart?"

My question hung in the air like the humidity in New Orleans. 

"You have to have an answer now, huh?" 

"Yes." 

He glared at me, shifting his weight to his other leg, hands on hips. 

"Well...no."

My heart leapt into my throat and sank into my toes all at once. Determined not to be weak, I calmly spoke, not making eye contact: "That is all you had to say in the first place." I turned on my heel and headed to the Temple, double time. Tears were burning my eyes and I cursed myself for being such a weenie.

"Christ, Tina - come back. Let's talk about this. We..."

"I've talked all I want to, Dino. I have my answer, now I can move on!" I called back to him. 

He was on my heels now, trying to grab my arm once more. I broke into a run to which he deftly tackled me and I landed flat on my face. 

After picking the grass out of my teeth, I asked, "Do you always chase after people you fire? Or am I the lucky example to a new policy at T & O?" Dino had a firm grip around my thighs and was trying to catch his breath.

I kept my face turned away to hide my tears of disappointment. 

"You....aren't....fired..." he panted.

Great, now he was back peddling. What? A secretary job was open? Don't tell me - his regular fellatio chick quit and he needed a new one...

"We just wanted...to give you ...another month or...two before we...Christ, you run fast...put you back into stressful situations."

I dropped my forehead to the ground, "Why in the hell didn't you say so?" 

"We were bargaining with time that you wouldn't press the subject for awhile, what with your recent engagement to Hando and all..."

I didn't know whether to be angry or thankful that they had my best interest at heart. 

"I'm sorry we weren't straight up with you, but really, Teen - we didn't want you to feel like this was a set-back to your progress..."

"Let go of me." I felt his weight shift off my legs and I sat up - my back still to him, trying to dry up my tears. 

"I would never make you cry like this, Tina. Talking as your friend and lover...I can't take that. Forgive me?" I felt his arms wrap around me and I couldn't hold back any longer. I sobbed audibly, shaking. Pent up emotion let free. I didn't even know what I was crying for. Maybe it was the excitement of finally getting to the bottom of a confusing issue in my life. Maybe it was Dino, wrapped around me so tenderly. Maybe it was that I felt like an ass.

"Come on - let's go back to the blanket and eat. Get a cold drink? How does that sound? 

"I dunno." 

"Aw come on - I'll be a perfect gentleman. I -" 

"I mean, I dunno if I can walk back. I'm tired." 

"Hahahahah - Your chariot awaits, babe." Turned and saw that he was offering his back for a piggyback ride. 

I relented and allowed him to ride me back. 

The lunch that he packed was wonderful. Salad, cold cuts, fruit, wine...

We chatted about Temple week and the brothers, steering clear of any convos about T & O. I leaned over to refill his glass and he brushed his lips across my shoulder.

I grinned, "You just don't give up, do you Mr. O'Leary?" 

"I can't help it. I take one look at you, Blondie, and I can't think about anything else but making you feel good." My nipples were on fire with electricity. I felt my sex pucker at his lusty voice.

"Is this my courtesy seduction, Mr. O'Leary? Quick in and out and she's ok?" I teased. 

"No. This is me, Dino, making up for hurting your feelings. Let me?" There was no teasing in his voice, or in his eyes. 

"I dunno. It'll cost you. I'm not sure if T & O can meet my particular needs." 

"Grrrrr. Come here. And leave fucking T & O out of this, will ya?" 

Before I could answer, he covered my mouth with his in an all encompassing, slow, tortuous kiss. 

Oh yeah - he was making it up to me...big time.

He worshipped my body in such a way that I felt as if I was the only girl ever for him. Hey - this is Dino...it's part of his M.O.

Before I knew what was what, all my clothes were scattered around the blanket and his face was buried in my nether regions, lapping up my honey for all it was worth. Allowing me to come as I pleased...obeying every direction I gave him. I tasted myself on his lips and motioned for him to move so I could give him the same attention that he had bestowed upon me.

"Uh uh. This is about you - not my dick. Heh." His grin turned to a dead-serious carnality. "What do you want, Tina? Tell me. Show me. Whatever you need, I'll give it to you."

The words a woman most wants to hear. He was playing me like a Stradivarius and I was eating up every moment of it. I whispered my wish into his ear. I waited for him to refuse, saying that he wasn't prepared - but I should've known better. Mr. MacGyver at your service.

Digging the cruet of salad oil out of the basket, he began the steps to grant my desire. Removing his clothes, spooning in behind me, he pushed my leg forward and began massaging around my anus. Drizzling oil onto his fingers, he delicately pushed one in, then two. The feeling of giving myself over to a man in such a manner coupled with the sensation I was receiving from his fingers was threatening to make me come right then and there. I focused on the gentling murmurs he was whispering to me - telling me that he has wanted me in this way from the first, but couldn't gather the guts to ask me.

Dino slathered himself with the oil and placed himself at the opening. His uneven breathing told me that he was trying very hard to maintain composure - to go easy and steady.

I winced when he gripped my hip - the bruises I had collected during the week were complaining in a collective refrain. "Ohhh... Teeeeenaaaa... mmmmmm... ssssssssssssssshhuussss. Fuck."

"Dino, yes...all of you.....there.....uuunnhhhh."

I reached behind my head to touch his face. I wondered if this felt remotely as incredible to him as it did to me. Wishing I could stay there in that single moment forever. Ah, the addiction of primal urges...stronger than any drug or drink.

It had been a long while since I had experienced it, but what Dino and I achieved under the awning of trees on the blanket was a pure tantra. This wasn't sex. It was a meditation...a weaving of souls into one another for a short period.

Neither looking for their own reward, both giving to the other. Whatever our business relationship had become - our existence as lovers had been consummated for all of nature to see.