In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice.
-Marquis de Sade
For the next few days, Karma did as Mark told her. She stood in front of the mirror every morning and every night, staring at her naked reflection with a new sense of self-respect, telling herself she was beautiful. She and Mark talked or texted every night, and she graduated to the next size in her dildo kit. On Friday, they got together for dinner and what ended up being another intensely smoldering make-out session that ended with a lot of groping and forced abstinence on both their parts. At this rate, Karma wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out. It was becoming clear that she and Mark had incredible chemistry and that when the time came, he would definitely deliver all he had promised and then some.
One good thing came from their lusty Friday night, though. Mark gave her permission to start experimenting with her purple vibrator. So, after he left, she pulled it out of her panty drawer. It just made sense to store it near her underwear.
The vibrator was a little bigger than dildo number two. The latex wasn’t as friendly to her womanly parts as the glass, but she finally reached success without too much discomfort after calling up the fantasy she’d had about Mark behind her at the mirror. That was all it took for Mr. Vibrator to do his magic.
And damn! What magic! That little rabbit ear thing that vibrated over her clitoris? Holy wow! And the way the shaft rotated and hit her G-spot—yes, she was getting well-acquainted with the G—nearly blew off her toes. She came so hard and so fast that it was practically over before it began. So, she did it again. And then once more just because she wanted to.
Exhausted and smiling, she fell asleep around midnight and was still smiling when she popped awake Saturday morning. She simply could not wipe the smile off her face. She was walking around in a state of perpetual arousal. What had Mark done to her? She was turning into a nymphomaniac.
Karma was still smiling as she returned home from her nine o’clock Pilates class when her phone rang. She set down her bag and glanced at the ID.
Mark. He had driven back to Chicago this morning for Mother’s Day weekend.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning. You sound cheerful. Sleep well?”
“Very well. You?” She practically skipped to the kitchen.
“Mmm.” He chuckled, but it was the quiet laugh of naughty things remembered. “Eventually, yes.”
A grin broke over her mouth. “What exactly are you saying?” She opened the refrigerator.
He laughed again. “Let’s just say I’m very happy this morning.”
Her hand stopped halfway to the cup of yogurt she was about to fish from the fridge. “Mark!”
“What? I’m a mature, warm-blooded man.”
More like hot-blooded.
“Did you…? After you left my…?” Complete sentences seemed in short supply all of a sudden. But why was she so surprised? Hadn’t she done the same thing? Three times, in fact?
“Yes I… And yes, after I left your…”
She giggled at the way he mocked her. “Stop it.”
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”
“I’m glad you’re amused.” She grabbed her blueberry Yoplait and shut the fridge.
“I’m glad you amuse me. But, yes, I did take certain liberties with myself upon returning to my place last night. Are you really so surprised? We have been getting quite familiar with one another—and after what we did on the phone earlier in the week, is it so hard to believe I do that sort of thing when I’m alone? And, I might add, there was no way I was going to get any sleep whatsoever if I didn’t relieve some pressure.”
The man just couldn’t come right out and say “I masturbated.” He had to make even that simple, seemingly perverse act sound perfectly normal and justified…and artistic.
“What about you?” he said. “Did you…? After I left your…?”
What an incorrigible man. But to be mocked by Mark—so playfully and personally—was very all right. He gave good mocking. Not like Johnny’s. Her brother’s brand of mocking was another beast. One that should be shot, killed, and dismembered. Mark’s mocking should get its ears scratched and a reward. Maybe she would give it a treat next time she saw him.
She pulled a spoon from her utensil drawer. “I’m a good student, Mr. Strong.”
“And…?”
She pulled the foil lid off her yogurt. “And…that means I do as my teacher tells me.” By now, they’d joked about being teacher and student so much that the nicknames had become terms of endearment.
“Okay. So…?”
She giggled and took a bite of yogurt. “Let’s just say you’ve got your work cut out for you. Hank is very good in bed.” Calling it Mr. Vibrator just felt strange. Giving it a name was much better.
“Hank?”
She laughed. “That’s what I named him.”
“Good God, why?”
“Because…I don’t know. It’s just easy. And Mark was already taken.”
They laughed together.
A moment later, Mark continued, “And you’re calling it a him?”
“Oh yes, after what we did last night, he is most definitely a he and not an it.”
More laughter. Three weeks ago, she would never have had this conversation. But despite the fact that she still got shy enough around Mark in person that she couldn’t fully relax, she was getting way more comfortable talking to him on the phone about subjects that, at one time, would have gotten stuck in her throat. Something about the fact that he couldn’t see her face made her bolder, and she said things during their long-distance conversations and texts she probably would have choked on in person.
“So, I take it you completed your homework assignment?”
“Yes. And I went for extra credit, too,” she said proudly.
“Really now?” He suddenly sounded a bit more intrigued.
“Mm-hm.” She sucked another portion of yogurt off her spoon.
“And just how much extra credit did you go for?”
She tried and failed to hold back a giggle. “Ummm…”
“Karma?” His voice held a warning, and she imagined he had one brow arched and a playful smirk on his face. “Do I have to confiscate Hank?”
She laughed again. “Don’t you dare!”
He sighed. “I’ve created a monster.”
“A more liberated monster,” she corrected.
“Mmm, I guess I can live with that. But don’t get too used to…Hank.”
“Why’s that?”
“Have I mentioned that I have an ego?”
She bit her bottom lip. “I think you did mention that once or twice.”
“Okay. Well, I refuse to let a power tool perform better than I do. So, you have your fun with Hank while you can, because when I get hold of you, you’ll wonder what you ever saw in him.”
“Those are mighty strong words, Mr. Strong. Some would say fightin’ words.”
“Damn straight. I do like a challenge. And you’ve just given me one. Another one.”
“Another one?”
“Yes. Another one.”
“What do you mean?”
He chuffed softly. “My dear Karma, if you only knew just how upside down you’ve turned my world. You’ve been nothing but challenges and surprises—pleasant ones, I might add—since the moment I met you. One long, complex, and unbelievably irresistible list of challenges and surprises.” He paused. “And I am absolutely drawn in. Hook, line, and sinker. You have my attention, Karma. All of it. And I do not intend to disappoint.”
Her spoon hung like an abandoned thought over her yogurt cup.
After a moment’s silence, Mark said, “You remember that next time you and Hank spend time together.” She heard the smile in his voice. He knew he had just blown her mind. Again. “I’ll let you go. See you Monday, Miss Mason. Enjoy your weekend.”
Before she could say another word, Mark ended the call, but not before she heard him chuckle.
Oh, he was bad. So very bad...but so very good.
Was it Monday, yet?