Guidance and Discipline 3 (Patreon)

Laura felt her face blush deeply, unable to believe what she had just asked, followed by a desperate mortification as she felt his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing away. She closed her eyes, ready to dash away, but when she tried to stand up, she realized his hands were preventing her from the sweet release of escape. “Laura, look at me,” Mark said in a clear tone, one that tickled her insides and caused heat to pool between her legs, something she had never felt before, at least not without the assistance from a little buzzing toy. 

“Mark, I’m sorry,” she murmured as she opened her eyes, afraid of what she would find in his eyes. She expected anger, disgust, or worst, an indulgent expression an adult might wear while looking at a silly portrait done by a child. 

But she found an inscrutable expression. It wasn’t anger, dismissal, or disgust, but also it wasn’t arousal —which would have been a normal response from a man in his thirties being propositioned by a barely-legal girl, even if she was as plain as Laura, or at least, she thought so. Even fear or shock about the age difference wouldn’t have been a surprise. 

But no, instead, he had a serious expression on his face, like he was considering her proposal with a calm seriousness, something that threw Laura off more than her own impulsive question, asking him to teach her about the pleasures of the body. “Mark?” she repeated, her voice trembling, whether with anticipation or shock she didn’t know. The longer she failed to decipher his expression, the more confused she got. 

Mark took a deep breath, which sent a wave of confusion through her. “Laura, you’re my friend, so I’m going to treat you with the respect you deserve-” he started, and she immediately felt a wave of dejection filling her heart, preparing herself to a rejection, harsher in its kindness. She expected it. It wasn’t a reasonable thing to ask from a friend in the first place —especially when the said friend was sculpted like an adonis, just a wink away from creating an actual harem around himself— but it did little to soften the blow. 

She opened her mouth, about to cut his words to save himself from the worst of the humiliation, but his gaze tightened just a touch more, effectively silencing her. He started speaking in a soft tone, like he was trying to talk to a skittish mare. “I want you to take your car, go home, and really think about whether what you asked is what you want,” he said, which was enough to freeze her thoughts. 

She just looked at him as she tried to restart her mind, only to fail as spectacularly as when she tried to restart her wreck of a car during a snowstorm. His answer was going in a much different direction than she had been expecting. “Really?” she uttered. 

He just continued speaking in the same calming tone. “Take your time until you’re sure, and it’s better if you keep the distance while you think, just to make sure you make your decision with a clear mind. If you really decide it’s what you want, I’ll help you. If you change your mind, you just need to send me a text about it, and I’ll never mention it again. Would that work for you?” 

“Y-yeah,” Laura stammered as she examined his chiseled face, much more attractive than she had ever seen. 

“You need to keep in mind that I’m not looking for anything that might be classified as a relationship in any traditional sense, so, your final decision needs to keep that factored in,” he finished as he loosened his touch on her shoulder and took a step back.  

Laura couldn’t help but be shocked, but her shock was filled with a strange kind of warmth. Despite the calm yet methodical tone he used, he was kind. More importantly, it was the first time she felt like she was being treated like a true adult; not an overeager teenager like most professors, not an incompetent disaster like her mother, not even like a fragile flower that might have broken if treated wrongly —impressive, considering he had already seen her break into hysterics for more than one occasion and knew about her addiction history. 

Despite everything in her life, he respected her as an adult, but still shown kindness to her by giving her an easy exit that wouldn’t force her to make a decision. 

“Okay, Mark, but on one condition,” Laura said with more confidence than she was feeling. Mark nodded, the slightest smile on his lips. “I want you to give me your address, so I can visit you when I finally make my decision, no matter what. I owe you to tell you that face to face rather than messaging like a coward.” 

“If that’s your wish, princess,” Mark said with a soft smile, his tone much warmer. Laura blushed, but also happy with the fact that he didn’t reiterate his point, trusting her to understand the implications.

Now, all she needed was to gather enough courage to pull back her request without humiliating herself. 

That was what she wanted to do, right? Anything else would have been ridiculous.

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****     

It was the Thursday evening, a full week after the day Laura had broken her relationship with her annoying waste-of-space boyfriend who hid an acrid, evil personality behind his free-loving persona. A full week after she had run into his arms, asking for his help for a very unusual subject. 

Laura wanted to blame Mark for the discomfort she was feeling. Why couldn’t Mark be a classical male hero and stole his lips mercilessly, conveniently taking the weight of decision from her hands? Or at least, laugh at her face before dismissing her, freeing from the weight of making a decision with a more painful ending. 

Okay, Laura respected him for his unique response, but it didn’t change the fact that it left her with a huge decision that she felt ashamed to conclude. Offering to start a casual sexual relationship with a good friend —effectively, her best friend in her current social pariah days after rehab— without anything to make it easier —like a few bottles of wine shared between them— wasn’t as easy as Laura had thought. For the whole week, she got anxious, excited, sad, panicked, and experienced emotions that weren’t even possible as she went back and forth between pulling back her request and going forward.

After all, it was not a simple thing to start. She was aware that, despite what he might have said, it had the potential to derail their friendship —and as much as she didn’t want to admit, she was self-aware enough to confess that she was the likely source of the problem for that. The smart thing to do was to swallow her pride and accept that she made a mistake, apologize, and beg him to forget that ever happened. 

However, that wouldn’t remove the problem. She was too inexperienced when it came to the matters of the body, and she didn’t want to continue making bad decisions just because a boy had an attractive body. Her life was far too fragile to trust a random boy with her body.  

She was a smart and ambitious young woman that trusted herself. So, she felt rather shameful admitting —even in her mind— that, in the end, it was Mark’s body that did the trick. It wasn’t his spectacular body he sculpted through endless hours in the gym or handsome his face that finalized her decision —though they certainly didn’t hurt. 

 It was the way Mark stood, confident like a mountain, like nothing could penetrate his confidence despite the fact that he was in a community college —for some unknown reason. There was a lot of gossip about that, of course, most of them claiming that he had been disbarred as a lawyer for one reason or other, from violating the ethics guidelines to sleeping with a judge. Even though it was believable —especially the last option— Laura had trouble believing that. 

Mark was far too self-possessed, too confident to have been disbarred.  

Still, Laura wanted to replicate that self-confidence, hoping to calm herself without the external validation of a string of A’s. And maybe, if she spent more time with Mark, she could get a sliver of his confidence. 

Her mind stopped wandering as she drove toward Mark’s address, because she could feel the gazes from the other cars. She couldn’t blame them. Her car was starting to get more and more noticeable in the traffic, as the roads were filled with brand new imported cars, reminding her of a car show. Mark’s apartment was in the nicest part of the town, yet another evidence against the disbarment. 

Even then, Laura was surprised about his living situation, as even the monthly maintenance charge there was more than her rent, which meant it shouldn’t be affordable for an ex-lawyer —whether he quit or disbarred— unless he was willing to burn through his savings recklessly. And no matter how nonchalant he acted at times, Laura didn’t think Mark was careless with his money. He was too in control to deplete his savings for his reputation.

Or at least, she assumed so.  

Lost in thoughts, she almost missed the turn to her building. Panic bloomed in her heart as she pulled into the nearest available visitor parking. It was the last chance for her to pull out, and that was only because she didn’t even call him before. She had promised that she would tell him face to face, but still, maybe she should have? 

“Be brave, Laura,” she murmured herself as she stepped out of her car, tightening her trenchcoat around herself to make sure nothing was out of order, trying to reject the temptation to bite her lips, afraid of ruining her makeup. Then, she entered the building, and saw that there was an actual doorman in place. Just how expensive was this place. 

“Laura, guest to apartment 22B,” she murmured as she slid her ID forward, hoping that a call from the reception would be enough warning for Mark. 

“You can go,” said the doorman said after taking a couple of notes on the open ledger in front of him. 

“Aren’t you going to call him for permission?” Laura asked, trembling in surprise. She had been hoping that he would call, giving him the warning. It shouldn’t be a problem, but it was. Calling him directly was not an option, not after she had already arrived at his building. 

“No need, you’re already registered as a guest,” he explained, and suddenly, Laura felt her mouth dry. Mark was expecting her upstairs, enough to already register as a guest. She didn’t know whether to feel excited to stressed about the trust, as she could have easily stumbled at him spending time with another woman, but still, he just allowed her to access. 

She should have still called. 

She didn’t. 

She nodded at the doorman before stepping into the elevator. Her reflection looked back at her from the mirror, which sent another wave of thrill through her body. The reflection showed nothing more than a bulky trench coat, a bit unnecessary considering the weather, but it did its job. Her make-up was thicker than she had usually preferred, applying red and black rather than her usual pastel colors. She wanted to look older. 

Laura walked toward the door, and when she rang the doorbell, she was beset with a desire to pull her arms tight, or even better, dash away before Mark could open the door. It was the last chance for her to pull back. But she was frozen in indecision, unable to react fast enough. 

Then the door opened, revealing Mark. She felt her breath hitch. A part of it was about the shock she felt and the stress of the moment, but the most belonged to the amazing sight that was revealed. Mark was wearing nothing more than a sleeveless shirt that displayed his arms to perfection, his muscles glistening under the dim lights of his apartment. 

She wanted to escape once more, this time intimidated by the sheer perfection of the sight in front of her. She knew that he was well-built, but she had never seen him without a dress shirt. Even in her dreams —hot, bothered, and very frequent during last week— she imagined that it was under his shirt. He said nothing for an almost full minute, examining her while she tried to look anywhere other than his face. Maybe it was the last attempt to test her resolve.

If so, she was about to fail.  

Then, he spoke. “Would you like to come in, princess?” he said as he took a side step, giving her just enough space to enter. 

She did so, aware that her life was about to change…