Rest and Relaxation

"Fuck. Everyone." I all but slammed the apartment's door behind me.

My roommate didn't glance up from her spot on the couch, her feet tucked up under her butt and a large brick of a fantasy novel open in her lap.

"That sounds exhausting."

Andromeda was a tiny little thing; five feet and change with shoulder length dark hair and big brown eyes. Her features were predominantly Caucasian and Filipino that made her look in her late teens instead of most of the way through her twenties as she was. She worked as a personal trainer at a gym a few blocks away and was in pretty great shape, wearing a comfortable pair of shorts that showed off her legs and a t-shirt proclaiming "Rogues do it from behind".

I shrugged off my suit jacket, throwing it in the vague direction of the coatrack before going to collapse into my chair.

Andie glanced up, "you look like hell."

"That's weird," I kicked off my shoes. "I feel like shit."

She made a face. "Bad day?"

"If this was a good day, life isn't worth living."

"What happened?" She set her book aside, big brown eyes sympathetic.

"The people I work with are either idiots or assholes." I loosened my corporate noose, pulling it over my head and tossing it spitefully into a corner. "They don't know how to do their damn job; so I'm stuck playing cleanup on top of my own workload." I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose, the roadwork that someone had scheduled behind my eyes unrelenting. "I'm just tired and stressed and I'm fried and I have just a terminal headache."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, considering. "Sounds like you need to get laid."

I snorted "I don't have time to date. I haven't had a day off in weeks."

"Who said anything about dating? Go to a bar, find a nice girl, pork her brains out, leave before she wakes up."

I gave her a disapproving look. "You're all class." She stuck her tongue out me. "Besides," I shrugged, "I'm not that guy."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. I forgot you mate for life. Like a penguin."

"I do not mate for life!" I shot back, sounding a lot more defensive than I meant to. "I just like some genuine intimacy with my exchange of bodily fluids."

"You can't make a fist?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "Masturbation was never my thing. It's weird." I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, trying to work out my headache again.

"It's not weird, it's completely natural. They teach it to kids in school."

I raised my head and shot her a look. "What kind of fucked up school did you go to?"

"Oh come on, they're always telling kids how important it is for them to love themselves."

"They're not being litter-" The smirk on her face said she was dicking with me and I shut up, closing my eyes again, sighing. "My head hurts." I muttered, dejected.

"Do you want me to help?"

'What do you got? Advil? Tylenol?" I considered, "a hammer?"

"Something to help you relax."

'Sure," I shrugged. "Why not?"

And with that she slipped off the couch, turned around and walked away.

I frowned and peered after her. Was I supposed to follow? I was about to stand up when she walked back into our cozy living room, black silk ribbon in hand.

"Here," she held it out and I looked from her, to the ribbon and back.

"It's a ribbon."

"Holmes, your powers of deduction amaze me. It's a blindfold. Put it on."

Fuck it, why not?

I took the blindfold and had started to put it on when she grabbed my wrist, looking me in the eye.

"Wait, one thing first. If you want to stop, I want you to say 'red'."

I raised an eyebrow, "I can't just say 'stop'?"

Her eyes glittered mischievously. "You can say stop all you like, but I won't unless you say 'red'. Understood?"

"Okay." I agreed slowly, starting to wonder just what I was getting myself into. "Red means stop. Got it."

She smiled brightly and let go of my wrist, letting me fasten the blindfold over my eyes. I had to admit, it did actually help with my headache. "Alright, now what?"

"What do you see?" Her voice was coming from somewhere to my left.

"The dunes of the Serengeti." I waved a hand in front of my face, "I'm wearing a blindfold, I don't see anything."

"Good." She patted my shoulder, "Just focus on that. Forget about work. Forget about everything. Let it all just slip away. Just relax and breathe."

I sighed dramatically but I followed her instructions, settling into the chair. My head throbbed but without any lights it was bearable. I started taking slow, deep breathes.

Little by little I could feel myself unwinding, I could feel the tension across my shoulders and back. The dull throb between my eyes starting to fade.

In and out.

For the first time in weeks I was starting to let go.

In and-

Something touched my hand and I nearly jumped through the ceiling.

"Fuck!"

'Silly boy,' Andie laughed. She took my hand and placed it on the armrest of the chair before starting to wrap something around my wrist. 'I told you to relax.'

"You need to wear a bell, woman," I muttered sourly.

She let out a small snort. "Just breathe and relax."

Her fingers moved with the skill and efficiency of practice and before I knew it my left hand was tied to the chair.

"Um... Andie?"

Her fingers paused, "too tight?"

"No. I'm just... What are you doing?"

Small soft fingers traced over my hand and she gave it a little squeeze. "It's a surprise, but we can stop if you want." She promised, "Anytime, just say the word."

Human contact is a lot like oxygen, I don't think you realize just how important it is until you're not getting any.

Especially for a few months.

Common sense told me I had to be up tomorrow. I should shower and get to bed, but a part of me wanted to see how far down the rabbit hole goes. "It's okay, we can keep going." She started tying my other wrist to the chair. "But," I added, "If I wake up without my kidneys, I'm going to be very upset."

She laughed again and I felt the binding tighten on my wrist with an accompanying sense of finality.

"There," her hand was resting gently on mine, moving in slow circles, her nails tracing tingling lines over my skin. "How do you feel now?"

"Like you're going to adopt a Russian accent and say 've have vays of making you talk'."

I make jokes when I'm nervous.

And when I'm comfortable.

And pretty much whenever they occur to me.

I make a lot of jokes, okay.

I felt Andie's hand slip away and I was left sitting alone. Blindfolded and tied to a chair I was suddenly acutely aware of just how exposed I was.

Seconds ticked by and I felt the silence stretching onwards.

It was quiet.

Dark.

I felt very, very vulnerable.

I swallowed nervously. "Good," I said.

Or at least that's what I tried to say, it came out like a croak. My mouth was dry and I had to clear my throat before trying again. "I feel fine." I managed.

"Good." She was on my right now, a new quality to her voice now I couldn't pin down. It made me think of melted chocolate and a purring cat. I felt her nails on my hand again, back to tracing those teasing little designs that made my skin tingle.

She started to move, nails trailing gently up over my wrist, over my arm, softly scraping over my skin through my dress shirt. Gooseflesh erupted over my arms, her nails tracing little lines of fire up over my bicep and my shoulder. She'd moved behind me, dragging her nails up the side of my neck with a deliberate slowness and I shuddered. Her hair brushed my cheek as she leaned down, her breath warm on the shell of my ear as her nails traced along my jaw, stubble scratching softly as they moved over my cheek. She tangled her fingers in my hair, nails scratching exquisitely across my scalp and I leaned into her touch, a low moan escaping my lips.

"Just relax," she whispered, her lips brushing my ear. "Is that better?"

"Fantastic," I murmured, her nails sending shivers down my spine. Tension was easing out of me. The knot between my shoulders beginning to melt away.

She curled and uncurled her fingers across my scalp. "Starting to unwind?"

"Mmmm."

She slowly untangled her fingers from my hair and they slipped free. I made a small disappointed sound, but was too relaxed to protest much further.

The feeling of hands on my knees remedied that and rocketed me back to reality as my legs were eased open.

"Andie..."

"Mhm?" Her hands slid up my thighs and undid my belt with nimble fingers, unbuttoning and pulling down the zipper on my pants.

It had been a long time since a pretty girl had gotten on her knees for me and I hesitated longer than I was proud of before speaking up. "Look Andie, you don't have to do this." Already I could feel my internal transmission shifting gears, blood racing south fast enough to almost make my lightheaded.

"I know." She assured me softly. "I want to." Her fingers were small and strong, cool and lightly calloused as they closed around my cock, pulling it out of my boxers and into the cool air. "And from the looks of it, you want me to too." She purred.

I groaned lightly as she tightened her grip around the base of my shaft and started to pump her fist up and down in long slow strokes.

"You poor boy. You feel like you're about to burst already."

My dick throbbed in her hand, achingly hard after being so long neglected. Her hand paused around the top of my shaft and she used her thumb to smear the bead of precum at my tip over the spongey head of my cock.

She started to corkscrew her hand slowly, working it up and down again.

"See, doesn't that feel good?"

I wasn't given a chance to answer, sucking in a breath as I felt the warm wetness of her mouth engulfed my dick. She sucked heavily, her tongue soft as it traced and curled in a gentle caress on my skin. My hips tried to rise of their own accord, but she pulled back, placing a hand on my thigh to push me back down, her mouth slipping off my shaft with a soft pop.

"Oh no," I could hear the grin in her voice and felt her rest her elbows on my knees. "I don't want you getting too excited just yet."

The air in the apartment was cool against my spit lubed shaft. She pressed a nail gently against the head of my cock, moving it in slow circles around the tip for a few moments before she dragged it down the underside of my shaft with an excruciating slowness.

"Fuck," I gasped, toes curling as pleasure shoot up my spine and my cock throbbed achingly.

"Oh, you like that?" She purred, tracing the tip of one finger slowly around my swollen head again. "How long has it been since you got off?"

I muttered something unintelligible under my breath.

"Alex." Her voice was stern, like a parent or teacher who knew a child was lying to them. Her finger disappeared from my penis and I knew It wouldn't return until I answered her.

"My last day off. That Sunday a few weeks ago."

I felt her grab my cock again, hand moving in slow strokes. "Did you take care of yourself when you woke up?"

"...No."

"Before you went to bed?"

I hesitated, feeling my cheeks start to flush. "...No."

"When was it then?"

"In the shower," I admitted quietly.

Her fingers paused as she thought about it, "but I was home that whole Sunday, wasn't I?"

I stayed quiet.

"So where was I when you were giving yourself a happy in the shower?"

"In here... Doing yoga."

"Oh you naughty, naughty boy," she laughed, giving my cock an affectionate squeeze. "Is that what set you off, watching me get all bendy?"

I fidgeted on the chair, shifting as much as I could and having no idea what to say.

"Next time just ask me if you can stay and watch." She purred, pressing her thumb under the head of my shaft and messaging it gently. "If you're a good boy I might even say yes. Would you like that?"

My head nodded jerkily and she pressed her lips against the base of my cock.

"I just want you to relax now, okay?" she told me softly. "Lie back and enjoy this. You've earned it."

Her lips closed around my cock again and I groaned. Her mouth down further, dragging delicious friction down my shaft. Her fingers were gripping my thighs, massaging them as she started to bob her head lightly on the top third of my penis. She moved deeper and deeper with each downward movement and I grunted as my cock met the resistance of her throat, but she didn't relent. I gasped as I slid into the tightness of her throat. The warmth and pressure were exquisite as her throat massaged my dick and she pressed her face into my lap, her tongue working against the underside as her fingers tightened on my thighs.

The pressure was building inside me. A heavy tightening of cum churning in my balls as she worked relentlessly when I was suddenly gasping. Pleasure ripped through me. My hips thrust upwards, my ass clenching as came in her eagerly working mouth and throat, nerves singing with my release and lights exploded behind my eyes.

I felt like I was floating.

Like everything had slipped away. My body tingled as I drifted through the comfortable darkness brought on by the neurochemical cascade of pleasure.

Some distant part of my mind felt my cock slip from the confines of her mouth in a final burst of friction. She tucked my flagging penis back into my pants and she stood up, sitting herself on my lap, her fingers working on my bindings.

When my wrists were free, she reached up, her hair brushing my cheek as she leaned forwards to untie the blindfold and pull the silky black fabric from my eyes. I blinked in the sudden light and found her staring up at me with those big dark eyes.

"How do you feel now?" She asked softly, giving my forearm a gentle squeeze.

I had to cough and clear my throat before I could talk like a person again.

"Good. Great actually. That was..."

"New?" She offered with a smile.

"Yeah. That's a word for it." I grinned sheepishly. I could feel a weight settling into my limbs. The exertion on top of my workday starting hit, leaving me drained. Although far more pleasantly than usual. "I'm not really sure I can return the favor but..."

She shook her head, "don't worry about it. I know you've had a long day. We'll call it a 68."

I must have been more tired than I thought, blood taking the scenic route back to my brain. "68?" I frowned.

"It's like a 69, but you owe me one."

I barked out a laugh.

"See, I can make jokes too." There was a mischievously look in her eye. "Just don't be surprised if I hit you up one of these days for some reciprocity. Don't think I forgot about how you tied that cherry stem with your tongue back at the New Year's party." She slipped off my lap, "but that can wait for another day after you get your strength up."

"Scouts honor."

"Good." She purred, offering a hand to help me shakily to my feet. "Now get some sleep."