After Zara left, Myles cleaned up the room. Things had gone so well. He hadn't known how she would react, even though she found him “hot”, to use her word. He was so pleased that she'd not used the safe word he'd given her. He had done that as he'd not wanted to hurt her or do anything she really didn't want to do. He wanted to give her pleasure and fulfill her fantasy. In doing so, he'd also given himself pleasure and had climaxed harder than he had in years. And twice at that!

He locked the door and went upstairs to his office. It was dark and he sat at his desk with the only light being that from the waiting room coming in through the open door. It was past supper time, but Jolene was out with friends for the evening, so he could eat at any time. Right now, he wasn't hungry for food.

He kept replaying the session over and over in his mind. He was so pleased that she let him doing everything to her that she'd wrote about in her journal He had been fantasizing about her for a long time – even before she wrote in her journal about finding him “hot”. She wasn't normally his “type”. While she had a nice body, she had short hair, which he did not like on women. She dressed nicely, but she still looked more like a tomboy than a woman. Except for her breasts. Of course, he noticed those right away. He was definitely a breast man. And an ass man.

She'd grown on him. The way she sat on the chair with her legs crossed and her skirt above the knee, giving him a glimpse of her thighs. A low cut blouse or one with the top buttons undone, letting him see her cleavage. He didn't know if she was doing this for him or if it was her normal way, but he began to find it enticing, though he didn't dare act on it. He would lose his licence to practice psychology if he did and got caught. Most likely, he'd lose his medical licence too, even though he wasn't currently practicing. And there were his own personal ethics about getting involved with a patient.

So, for a while he managed to keep his desires at bay. Then came the day Zara left the room without taking her bag with her. He couldn't resist the temptation to look inside and take her journal out, which he had read after she left. He was quite surprised to find her entries about him, telling of her attraction to him and her fantasies. Pleasantly surprised. He knew he shouldn't, but he found himself going to Greenham to find the cuffs and collar. Everything had gone well, but did he dare do it again? He wanted to, oh how he wanted to. But he knew he shouldn't ... that he couldn't.

Sighing, Myles got out of his chair and locked up before going into the house to get his supper. He would text Zara in a while and tell her to take the collar off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zara turned the key in the lock and opened the door. As expected, Adrian was not home. She was relieved and hoped he stayed at Becky's all night. She poured herself a glass of wine and sat down on the sofa, bringing her legs up under her. Checking in her bag, she made sure her journal was still there. Damn, I'm going to be paranoid about that for a long time, she thought to herself.

Images of what had transpired with her therapist flooded her mind. She couldn't believe that had really happened! Yes, she'd fantasized about Dr Holt, but she wasn't sure she had wanted anything to actually happen. Part of her seethed with anger at him for stealing her journal and reading it. She was sure he'd taken it from her bag, nothing else made sense. But part of her was almost glad because it had led to this. Unconsciously, she brought her hand up to her throat and touched the collar he had put around it. When he'd whispered into her ear “You are mine”, she found it such a turn-on.

Zara felt so confused. This was the first time she'd cheated on Adrian. Despite him cheating on her on an on-going basis, she still felt a bit guilty. Only a bit, though. The sex with Dr Holt was amazing – she had never experienced such earth-shattering orgasms ever before in her life. He was one heck of a lover. She wondered how he was at giving oral. I can't ever find out, she said to herself. This couldn't happen again – not only because she didn't want to give Adrian ammunition to use against her in a divorce if things went that way, but also because the doctor was her therapist. She could not let him risk his licence again. No matter how good the sex was.

She reached up to take the collar off. Why wait if she wasn't going to let this happen again? But something stopped her and she got up from the sofa and went upstairs to change clothes before getting supper together.

As she was finishing her dinner, her phone buzzed. She looked at it – it was Dr Holt texting her. Neither of them were big on “text speak”:

Dr Holt: How are you, Pet?

I'm fine, Doctor Holt

Dr Holt: How do you feel about what happened this afternoon?

Okay, I guess

Dr Holt: You guess?

She hadn't wanted to gush over it, but she didn't want him to think his sexual abilities were lacking.

It was great, Doctor. You made me feel amazing. But it can't happen again.

Dr Holt: I am flattered, Zara. But why can't it happen again?

My marriage. Your licence.

Dr Holt: Let's talk about it another time, Pet. Tonight, bask in how I made you feel. Okay?

Okay, Doctor

Dr Holt: That's my girl. Have you taken the collar off?

No, Doctor

Damn, why was she still addressing him as “Doctor” if she wasn't going to do it again?

Dr Holt: Good. You may take it off any time you wish. Leave it on longer if you want to.

Thank you, Dr Holt

Dr Holt: Have a good night, Pet. I'll see you Tuesday for your therapy session.

Zara turned her phone off and got up to do the dishes. She didn't take the collar off until the next morning before she left for work. She put it in her jewellery box, which she kept locked in case of a robbery. Even if it got stolen, she wasn't going to make it easy for thieves to get to the expensive items inside.

She cancelled her next two therapy appointments, taking the catheter out herself when she decided not to go to the first one after their encounter. She just could not go in, knowing what had happened and vowing it could never happen again. She didn't trust herself to not give in if the doctor came on to her. But much as she tried not to, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about him while lying in bed on the nights Adrian did not come home. She replayed the encounter over and over again while masturbating and each time, it brought her to an astounding orgasm – but it was not as good as when it had actually happened.

She continued with her routine with the exception of going for her therapy session on Tuesdays. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays she went to the gym on her lunch hour, picking up something to eat on her way back to the office. Tuesdays she normally worked through her lunch so that she could take off early for her therapy session and be home on time. She couldn't have Adrian asking questions if she was late. She didn't want to risk him finding out about her being in therapy. He had no use for mental health professionals and considered their patients “crazy”. She had no doubt he'd use it against her if he found out. Thursdays, she ate lunch at a cafe close to the office.

Work was keeping Zara quite busy and she barely noticed missing her therapy. She'd been seeing Dr Holt for about three years, starting shortly after finding out about Adrian's affair and his subsequent threat to take her for everything he could if she left him or filed for divorce. It had almost caused her to have a break-down. In fact, she would have had one if she had not run into the doctor at a park in Norcastle, a small city about 20 minutes from where she lived. She'd gone to try to clear her mind. He was walking through the park with his brother's dog that he was looking after while he and his family were on vacation. He saw Zara sitting on a bench with tears running down her cheeks and had sat down beside her to make sure she was okay. He introduced himself and showed her his ID to put her at ease. She found it easy to talk to him and opened up about her past history with men and about finding out about her husband's affair. Myles gave her his business card, telling her to call him any time if she needed to talk, reassuring her that if she chose to enter therapy with him, that it would be completely confidential.

She credited Dr Holt with saving her life – or at least her sanity – and he had insisted that she continue therapy even when she felt she'd come as far as she could with her issues about her marriage. He had not been able to get her to see that the best thing for her would be to leave and file for divorce. It made him feel like he'd failed her, but he knew he could not win them all - that some patients would do what they shouldn't do regardless of how hard he worked with them to get them to see a better way.

Zara had not told him very much about her childhood and family life, answering any questions very curtly and changing the topic. She had not come to him to deal with that part of her past and she did not want to discuss it, but he seemed to sense there was something there. He was at a loss as to how to get her to talk about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Thursday after the second time she cancelled her therapy session, Zara was sitting in her favourite cafe, enjoying her lunch when she noticed someone stop beside her table. “Hello Zara”, a male voice said. She almost jumped out of her skin.

“Dr Holt!”

“May I sit down?”

“Uh …. yes, of course.” He set a tray on the table and sat down across from her.

“How are you, Zara? You've been cancelling your sessions. Are you okay?”

“Shhhh!” she replied in a whisper. “People from work come here. I can't chance anyone finding out about you.”

“All right, Zara, we'll play it your way”, he replied, keeping his voice low so as not to upset his patient. “Meet me after work for dinner. At a place of your choosing. We can talk then.”

“I can't tonight. Adrian will be home.”

“When will he not be home?”

“Tomorrow. Becky will be back from a business trip. He'll be gone for the weekend.”

“Tomorrow night, then. Text me the place you choose, but make it an upscale place - I'm buying. I'll text you back with the time to be there. In the meantime, let's talk about other things, like two friends enjoying lunch together. You can call me Myles here.”

“Okay, Myles”, she said with a slight smile.

They had a very pleasant conversation talking about the weather, current events, Zara's garden, Myles' grandchildren. Zara enjoyed seeing a different side to her doctor. Myles insisted on walking her back to the office, taking her arm in his. “Remember, we are just two friends who met for lunch. None of my patients or friends work in this part of the city, so there is no worry about anyone I know seeing us. Even if they did, they'd have no reason to think you're my patient.” Outside the building the advertising agency was located in, he pulled her to him in a hug and whispered in her ear “We're just two friends giving each other a hug. You take care of yourself between now and tomorrow night, Zara. Don't get into any fights with Adrian. I'm worried that he will start physically abusing you.” The fights between Zara and her husband had been getting more frequent.

“I'll try not to, Myles.”

“Walk away if you have to. Soak in a hot tub or go for a walk if you feel you can't stand being in the house a moment longer. Call me any time, day or night, if you need me. Or if you need me to come get you. Do not risk your life or well being.” He emphasized the last sentence as he pulled out of the hug and put his hand on her cheek before walking away.

Zara was left speechless. How the hell had he found out where she ate lunch on Thursdays? She could barely concentrate on her work all afternoon. Her mind kept wandering to her lunch with Dr Holt and wondering how he knew she'd be there at the cafe. It couldn't have been coincidence. Or could it?

Before she left work, she did some research on upscale restaurants and chose one in a section of the city quite a ways from the office that had very good reviews.

Adrian was in a grumpy mood. Probably from a few days of no nookie, she thought. He better not be looking for it from me tonight. To prevent getting into any fights with him, she took her supper into her den. She paid the mortgage on the $400,000 house and insisted on having her own space where he was not permitted to enter. He had his man cave in the basement.

She texted Dr Holt while she ate and gave him the name and address of the restaurant that she had chosen.

Dr Holt: I am familiar with it. Good choice, Zara. Can you make it for 7:00?

I should be able to.

Dr Holt: Perfect. I will make reservations. Text me if Adrian is home and you can't get there.