The Lessons by Elizabeth Brown

see me, because the biggest, stupidest grin took over my face. I’d tried desperately to stay serious with her, but she liked it, and I couldn’t wait to show her more. She had no idea what was in store.
    And all I had to do was not fuck it up.
     
    Natalie
    Oh, fuck.
    I couldn’t believe it. I’d just had a hot man-God go down on me and he actually managed to bring me to orgasm. Wow , I murmured to myself, my vision still fuzzy. That was incredible. I looked over at Ryan, who was now lying with me in bed. Would it be wrong to ask him to do that again? I thought. Yes, stupid. He’s not a whore you are paying by the hour. Don’t you even go there.
    He turned to me, and propped himself up on his elbow. “So,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his forearm, “how did that feel?”
    I pressed my lips together and rubbed my face. “Uh, really good.” Should I thank him again? Fuck, what is the right way to answer? “Thank you.”
    Ryan looked amused at my response. “The pleasure was all mine, Natalie. That’s important for you to remember. Many men really enjoy giving oral sex to women.”
    Did he mean— what did he mean by that? I looked down at his boxers. They were still on, and fully tented. Hmm. Maybe he did really enjoy doing that. What was I supposed to do now? Was I supposed to, oh God… not that I didn’t want to—
    “Well,” he said stretching a little as he sat up, “I think that’s good enough for today.” He continued, very matter-of-factly, and rather confidently, despite his state of undress.
    “Why do you do it?” I asked suddenly. The question clearly surprised him, and honestly, it surprised me as well. Why did I ask it? Well, there was only one reason. I wanted to stay with him, just a little longer. Well, okay, maybe I was curious too.
    He looked over at me, and arranged himself so he was seated facing me. I mirrored him, bringing the sheet up to cover me.
    “What do you mean? Do what?” he asked, a smile curling on his lips.
    “This.” I closed one eye and looked up at the ceiling. “This work.” Taking ladies’ virginities wasn’t exactly a class at my college, and I was curious how one finds this as a vocation. What could his possible motivation be? Was he a sex addict? As much as it’d be a perfect job for one, I couldn’t imagine they’d get past the screening process Dr. Lerner had described. “Or is that too personal a question?”
    “Oh,” he said, the muscles in his face visibly relaxing. “No, it’s fine. I mean, it’s only fair you know about my professional motivations.” He ran his hand though his hair. I hadn’t touched that hair yet, but I wanted to. It was sex God hair, all dark and thick. “Well, not to be crass, but the hours are reasonable, it fits in with my schedule, and it pays well.”
    “Oh right, you’re in school?”
    “Yep, PhD in Psychology. Final year.”
    Oh. This is starting to make more sense. “Is this your uh, area of concentration?” I cringed at my choice of words, given our, uh, session that afternoon.
    But Ryan wasn’t deterred. “What, sex?” he chuckled. “Actually, no, I’m focusing on depression and anxiety. This work, it’s more like a side job while I’m in school. I also do regular therapy— I have to log so many hours to get my license.”
    “Ah, so I’m the side job?” Shit. Why did I say that?! I scrambled to cover. “How many, uh, clients have you worked with? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.” I said, still wincing inside.
    “Hmm. Good question.” He paused while he seemed to do the tally in his head. I watched him, completely perplexed by it all— I mean, who loses track of how many people they’ve fucked? “Clients, probably only about thirty or so. SFCS insists on time off between cases, but I’ve done about three or four a year for the last eight years or so.”
    I shuddered a little, thinking about him with all those other… all those other women. “Huh, so you like it? I