"A D/s Fairy Tale 11"( MF FF F-dom fant )[7/7]

Chapter 11 - The Return of the Wizard

Chris awoke when the soft warm rays of light lanced through
the gauzy curtains of her penthouse suite.  Languidly, she
stretched, and gloried to the feel of Eric's strong warm body
wrapped protectively about her own.  The stretch woke up
certain previously under-exercised muscle groups that had
gotten a very thorough work out the night before.  Well, so
what if she walked a little bow-legged today, she smiled. 
Gently, so as not to awaken Eric, Chris extricated herself
from his embrace and slid out of her bed to pad across the
thickly carpeted floor and stand in front of the east facing
french doors.

The December sunrise over the Boston Skyline was glorious to
behold.  Sol's fiery leading edge peaked above the Prudential
Building throwing off a rainbow halo of color that blazed off
the skyscraper's glass shell.  Light battled darkness, and as
the light had in the battle for her soul, emerged victorious.  

Christiana sighed in blissful peace.  It was going to be
wonderful.  She looked over at the resting male on her bed. 
How would he look in that lovely harness she had seen at
Lillian's place, his body pulled tight on that cross.  What
she could do to him in that position.  She shuddered as she
felt herself grow aroused, get wet.  What a lovely thought. 
She would treasure it, nurture it, let it grow.  Anticipation
was a wonderful way to beat off boredom, she mused.  She
needed to see about getting her own Saint Andrew's Cross. 
What piece of exercise equipment could be used to disguise one
of those?

Breakfast, and the subsequent "getting ready for work" routine 
had been a richly sweet affair.  Chris found excuses just to
touch Eric.  Eric found reasons to kiss her senseless.  All
the little rituals two human beings use to get to know each
other on a very private and personal level, Chris mused. 
Little rituals she had forgotten once, but never again.

Time passed too quickly and their shower had to be hurried,
much to Christiana's disappointment.  Eric had an early
meeting and he needed to get moving.  Chris had other ideas,
particularly once she got her soapy hands on his butt.  Eric
had manfully resisted her, so Chris had pulled out the stops. 
She teased him, tickled him, fondled him.  She wanted him,
anyway she could get him.

She was surprised by what she got.  "Dammit, Chris, I *told*
you I don't have time to do that properly, but I do have time
to do *this*." he had stormed out of the shower, dragging her
behind him by the wrist.  The next thing she knew, he was
seated on the toilet seat and she was face down/butt up over
his knees and his hand was raining down on her rounded butt.

She'd been shocked at first, then outraged.  She had fought
him like a she cat, but he'd been too strong and all she had
managed to do was bounce herself around a bit.  Then, it
changed.  Heat curled in her loins, fired by the heat in her
ass.  She shifted her weight a bit bringing her pubis into
hard, direct contact with his knee.  The friction, combined
with the fire had been incredible, unreal and unexpected.  One
particularly stinging slap sent her clitoris down hard against
him and spun her into ecstacy.

Her orgasm shocked them both.  He stopped his spanking of her
and loosened his grip on her to watch her writhe.  Chris took
advantage of her sudden freedom to slip off his lap onto her
knees.  She buried her face in his groin, inhaling his
erection into her mouth.  She peaked up to see Eric's eyes
cross, quite satisfactorily, as she gently nibbled at his
glans.  Her hands came up to cup his testicles and to massage
the rigid length that would not quite fit into her mouth.
Helpless against her tender assault, he arched into her, and
emptied his soul into her mouth.

Amazed, Eric could only stare down at her like she had
suddenly grown horns.  Smugly, she licked her lips, savoring
the taste of both him and her little victory.  "And you said
you did not have time." and earned herself another swat on her
already reddened cheeks.

Later, sitting in her big leather office chair felt strange,
but nice.  Very nice, in fact.  Chris had to admit that the
added sting of her well warmed bottom added a certain lovely
piquance to the simple experience of working at her desk. 
Each little twitch or shift of her butt against the softness
of her leather chair brought memories of her morning with Eric
floating across her mind's eye, and those brought a very self
satisfied smile to her face.  Eric had certainly surprised
her.  That had been very nice, too.

Her reveries were interrupted when Molly stuck her head in the
door.  "Got a minute, Chris?"

Chris smiled at her friend.  "Sure do.  Come on in, Molly and
sit down.  What's up?"  She set aside the report she had spent
twenty minutes not reading.  Uncle Samuel would just have to
wait a while longer for her to say "no" to his latest little
brainstorm. 

Molly sat down and shyly looked away from Chris for a moment.
She was rigged out in another of the suits that Chris had
helped her pick out and looked fabulous.  Of course, Chris
still owed her one for that little fashion show.  She would
have to take her little subbie shopping soon.  Something
*tight*, with lots of surprises, Chris thought smiling.  She'd
give her the Mistress Barbie Doll getup, too, but that wasn't
*quite* tight enough for what she had in mind for Molly.

Molly forced her eyes up to Chris.  "I . . uhhh" she coughed
nervously to clear her throat. "I wanted to tell you how much
I learned from yesterday's scene, Chris." Yesterday?  "I know
how much you dislike me making demands in a scene.  Once I let
go, stopped trying to get my own way, it got ever so much
better.  I want you to know that I am going to try to be
better about that in the future."

Chris started to thank her but stopped.  Molly's body language
told her that Molly was not done.  Chris sat back and let her
friend work through it.  "I'd like to, that is, I know that
you wanted to... I mean."  Molly blushed furiously.  Whatever
she is trying to get out, Chris mused, is something she wants,
but is either afraid or embarrassed to want.  Molly coughed
again and took in a deep breath.  "I want to play with some
other folks.  You have wanted me to do that, but I have always
safeworded.  You taught me yesterday that trusting you is
safe, if uncomfortable.  I think I am ready for that step."

Chris thought there was still more.  "Is that all, luv?  What
is it you really want?"

Molly swallowed.  "I want to fall in love with someone who can
accept this part of me.  Someone I can build a life and a
family with, but who I can still have this type of play with,
too.  If I am going to do that, I need to meet other people
who play D/S games.  I figure you know people like that who
are trustworthy and I thought you would be there to help me. 
Maybe hold my leash or something while I dip my toe into the
pool?"

Molly's eyes were pleading with Chris.  God, she is asking me
this?  What have I done to deserve that kind of trust?  Chris
asked herself, all the while knowing what she had done to
deserve the exact opposite from this woman.  What she could
do, she would do.  It was that simple.  "So, you want a
family.  Obviously, that means a male." she was already
thinking about just the *right* male when Molly became very
agitated.

"No... no.  At least, not right off.  I think another woman
would be less frightening, Chris.  I am used to having a
woman's hands on me, to being punished by someone with a
woman's strength.  I'd like to get over the hurdle of playing
with a woman other than you before I trust a man to have that
kind of power over me."

"There are some very strong women out there, Molly, and some
very gentle men, but if you are sure that is what you want,"
she looked over at Molly who was nodding back at her, eyes
wide, "then I think I can find someone trustworthy and
skilled.  And we will do it here so that you don't have to
worry about an audience."

"Thank you, Chris."  Molly launched herself from her chair and
ran around Christiana's desk to throw her arms around Chris
and hug her close.  "Thank you."

Gently, Chris held her friend for a few moments before
disentangling herself.  "Okay, that being done, I need you to
clear my calendar for the afternoon."  Molly slipped back into
her professional mode with some difficulty, but managed to ask
what was planned.  Chris beamed.  "Eric and I are going
shopping for rings."  Molly nodded and started to write in her
notebook before the meaning of the words sunk in.  More hugs
and feminine peals of laughter punctuated the remainder of the
interview.

After Molly left, Chris again tried to concentrate on Samuel's
plan to increase profits, this time by cutting back on full
time employees in favor of part timers - less benefits and a
more flexible workforce, he said.  Poorer service to our
customers is more like it, Chris fumed to herself.

She was beginning to draft a response when Molly poked her
head in to announce that Leon Whitworth was there and wanted
to see her.  She had Molly show him in and then seated him in
one of the easy chairs off to the side of the large office.
"Hello, Christiana." he said after she had seated herself in
the chair next to his. "I don't know quite how to say this."

"It is usually best to just say things as they come, my
friend.  I promise, I won't take offense and I also promise,
you will still be my friend after you've said it." 

Leon shook his head.  "You are amazing.  You taught me a lot
in that last scene.  I did not know I could really pass like
that."  Last scene, Chris thought?  Maybe he means the last
time he subbed to me.  "If it was not for the way it ended, I
would have been quite proud to have accomplished that.  Being
caught out like that at the end was kind of tough."

"That was not your fault, Leon.  I pressed too hard and I
should have been on the look out when I pushed you over the
edge.  I am sorry for that."

He smiled grimly.  "It's why I stayed away so long.  You also
taught me that you understand my submissive side too well for
me ever to win our bet.  Chris, I came here today to tell you
I am going to start looking for other people to play with.  I
am going to find people, particularly women, who will help me
learn to be a top."

"I see.  Want to tell me what is driving this?"  Whatever he
wanted, whatever he needed, she would see he got it.  He was
her friend and it was time to act like a friend.

A flush slowly crept up his face.  "I, uhhh, want to top
someone in particular.  I think, no, I know she is in the
scene and I know she bottoms.  I am hoping to become the one
she bottoms to on a regular basis."  His eyes slipped
furtively to the office door before coming back to Chris.

Ah ha, Chris thought, and then she remembered just what and
who Leon had transformed her into the day he owned her.  "I
want to help you, Leon.  I release you from our bet and I
would like to offer myself as your teacher.  We can do it one
of two ways.  The first is that I will be your practice
bottom.  That is not optimal since I don't bottom as well as I
top and I might limit your progress.  The other option is that
we double team a submissive.  I would be your co-top, show you
the ropes, if you will.  In fact, I have a lovely lady
submissive in mind who would be perfect."  She let her voice
trail off.

"I hear a "but" in that sentence, Chris."  

He was suspicious, Chris knew.  She could hear it in his voice
but then, he had a right to be after all the games she played
on him over the past few months.  Let him go for this idea,
she thought.  "She is a longtime play partner of mine, Leon -
a very special, very lovely lady - who also wants to try out
new playmates.  She prefers a gentler style of play, and she
would be an excellent person to learn with, but you are right,
there is a catch.  She doesn't want to play with a male
dominant, at least, not at first."

Suspicion darkened his eyes.  "What is this, Chris, another
way to keep me on a string?"  His tone was bitter.  "Wait
until she is ready to play with a male?  How long will that
take, Chris?"  He started to stand.  Chris leapt to push him
back down and then knelt in front of him.

"No, wait, Leon.  Please listen.  She is very special and she
wants things that I cannot give her.  You could.  I think you
are each what the other is looking for.  I want you to be the
one we play with when I give her to another dominant as she
has asked me to do, but it will mean you start off with her
dressed as a woman."

Leon's eyes went wide in disbelief, and his mouth worked with
no words coming out.  Finally, he said.  "I don't think I
heard you correctly."

Chris moved closer so that she was eye to eye with him, so
that her face was only inches from his own.  Earnestly, she
entreated him. "Be the Lioness for her, Leon.  Lillian can
adjust the costume a little, make it more appropriate for a
domina than a submissive.  She wants to submit to a man and if
you earn her trust as a domina, you could be the man she
kneels to."

Christiana's eyes shifted back to her office door.

Leon saw that and started. "You don't mean."  His head
swivelled from her to the door and then back to Chris.  "You
mean, Mmmm."  His question was muted by Christiana's finger
against his lips.

"I mean, a very, very special friend of mine who I would only
trust with someone who is also very, very special."  Chris
then looked pointedly at the door one more time to ensure that
Leon understood what she would not say until he agreed to play
the woman for Molly.

"You promise this is not another game?"  Leon was dubious.

Chris sighed.  He was entitled to his doubts.  "My word of
honor, Leon.  That I will help and that she is special.  You
will not regret this.  I promise."

Abruptly, he stood.  "I need to think about this.  I've got to
go find some place to think."  He turned to the door, opened
it and then stopped to stare at Molly as she worked on
something at her desk.  The look of stark longing on his face
told Chris just how much he wanted little Molly.  How *had*
she been so blind before?  How *had* she missed that?  Leon
turned back to her. "I'll get back to you, okay?"  Chris
nodded.  With one last look at Molly, Leon nodded back to
Chris and then left.

Chris smiled as she moved back to her desk.  He'd come around,
she thought.  Better make a quick call to Lillian.  Chris
punched in the number for Lillian's costume office, quietly
humming the Matchmaker Song from _Fiddler on the Roof_.  Yes,
Molly would need a special outfit for that scene, too.  And
Chris could just see it in her mind.  Lillian would have to
design something nice and tight for the lovely Molly.

Lillian's dry voice answered on the second ring.  After the
pleasantries, Chris told her what she wanted.  "I need you to
modify the Lioness costume so that my friend can use it to
look like a domme."  Lillian asked a question.  "No, I mean
it.  I want him to pass very close scrutiny by a female play
partner without discovery.  A little more freedom of movement
and a less extreme set of heels, too.  I want him to still be
able to walk when we are through, this time.  This is a near
term thing, Lillian.  I will pay a premium price to get the
work done quickly."

"Should be no problem.  Have it sent over by courier and I
will get to it right away.  As I recall, there is not much
that would need to be done other than to get rid of the tail
and loosen the sleeves and gloves.  Maybe a slightly larger
corset."

Chris grinned slyly.  "Well, not *too* much larger."  Lillian
laughed with conspiratorial appreciation and then took down
Christiana's order for her present for Molly.  

"I still have her measurements from that harness you wanted
for her.  I can make this one fit, too.  Barely."  Both women
laughed at that.  The outfit would barely fit and would leave
a lot of Molly's cute bod bare.

Chris grinned at the thought of Leon's reaction to seeing
Molly in skintight satin, lace and, of course, skin.  Still
smiling, she turned her attention back to "So, how's your
love-life?"

"Don't have one."  Lillian responded with a sigh.  "Haven't
had any likely ones since my lover had to move to LA, either. 
Lately, any subbie who comes to play with me has gone
screaming into the night as soon as she sees my tattoo rig in
the dungeon.  Like I'd just up and do it to them once I had
them helpless."  Frustration colored her voice.  "Sure, I'd
like to mark them, but most of my partners have gone
untouched.  Only if they want it.  I'd like to know where I
got the reputation for nonconsenual play."  She grumbled into
the phone.

"You don't have one, Lillian, not with the people who know
you."  Just then, Molly stuck her head in to indicate someone
was waiting to see her.  "Trust me.  Maybe you just need
someone who already knows you to help you hook up with
someone."  She listened and laughed.  "You just never know. 
Hey, I've got to run.  The lion outfit will be over to you by
tomorrow morning. Bye."

Kayla peeked around the corner of the doorjamb before being
all but pushed in bodily by Molly.  Gathering herself and her
dignity, she pulled herself erect in front of Chris, her only
movement the spasmodic squeezing of her hands upon her purse. 
"I am sorry to bother you at work, Chris.  I wanted to talk to
you and felt, well... I felt this would be less explosive."

Chris smiled, trying to put the lovely black woman more at her
ease and offered her the seat that Leon had vacated minutes
before. She gave her a few moments to collect herself before
speaking herself.  "Now, what is it, Kayla?" Chris asked
briskly, but not unkindly.

Tears leaked down the flawless cheeks.  "I have to leave you,
Chris." the words came out in a rush, followed by more tears
and sobs.

Chris was out of her own seat, instantly.  She pulled Kayla
out of her chair and over to the small couch that completed
the conversation nook furnishings.  Chris settled Kayla and
then sat down next to her, still holding the crying woman. 
"What is wrong, luv?"

"I can't go on like this.  I want things that you can't give
me.  Things that you should not have to *try* to give me.  And
because I am also afraid of the things I want, I have tried to
make you take the decision out of my hands.  I've stayed away
for so long because I was ashamed of trying to use you and our
relationship that way.  I am so sorry." Fresh torrents of
tears burst through, but Kayla fought for control and won.  "I
just wanted you to know I would never bother you again."  She
tried to leave but Chris held on to her hand and gently pulled
her back to the couch.  A tissue appeared in Christiana's hand
and blotted at a rivulet of mascara flowing down Kayla's cheek
before pressing a soft kiss there.

"You are not a bother, sweet.  This is about the markings,
isn't it?"  Kayla nodded.  Chris sighed.  Evidently the
interruption in the scene had denied Kayla the closure she
needed.  "You are right about one thing, Kayla.  I can't do
that with you, but that does not mean I don't care for you and
can't try to help you."

Kayla snuffled into the tissue and turned haunted eyes on
Chris.  "What does that mean?"

"I have a friend.  She is a domme and she is a body artist. 
She is lonely, too, but that is beside the matter.  I could
set up a meeting between you two.  You could ask questions,
find answers that might help you make a decision one way or
another.  Maybe find middle ground.  Something you can have
done and not worry about most of the time."

"You said she was lonely.  Does that mean she is looking for a
sub?  I don't want to commit to being her sub - not without
knowing her."

"You know it doesn't work that way, Kayla.  Lillian is a
wonderful domme and she would not go into a relationship with
you like that, either.  She would, however, help you
understand more clearly the ramifications of what you want, or
at least, what you think you want.  Personally, I think you
two would get on famously, but that is for you two to sort
out."

"You would do that?"

Christiana's heart twisted when she heard the uncertainty in
Kayla's voice.  She had put that uncertainty there.  She had
earned that lack of faith from Kayla and everyone else she had
abused while her head was messed up.  What a bitch she had
been.  "Right now.  Tell you what.  I have something I need
delivered to Lillian's.  Why don't you take it to her?  Then
you can meet her without her knowing who you are or what you
might want of her.  You'd just be my delivery girl.  Then, if
you want me to, I will set up another meeting.  I will just
call her now and tell her a friend of mine is coming by to
drop off the parcel instead of a courier."

Moments later, Kayla, after fixing her makeup in Christiana's
executive washroom, was off to meet Lillian.  Maybe I should
change my name to Mistress Yenta, she thought to herself.

"Maybe you should at that" came a deep masculine voice behind
her.  Slowly, Chris turned, and saw Adrian Luthor seated in
her leather executive office chair, with his work boot-shod
feet up on her desk. He was dressed in old faded blue jeans
and a soft chambray shirt.  Not very wizardly, Chris thought
in her confusion. "So far, I seem to be the only player in
this little drama you have not found a mate for this morning."

"How...how did you get here?"  Chris stammered.

Adrian shrugged, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.  "I
never left.  You just did not see me.  I did promise that no
harm would come to you, did I not?  I could not leave you
alone with all that emotion flying around and be sure to keep
that promise, so I stayed around."

"I'm afraid I don't understand."  Chris stuttered as she
stared at the man who had put her through the most difficult
four days of life.

His smile gentled.  "I know you don't, Chris, and that is part
of the reason I am here.  First, it has not been four days. 
Look at the date on your watch."  

Chris obeyed and looked up with a start.  "But, that is not
possible.  My watch says it is only two days after my first
meeting with you.  I've been with Molly and Leon and Kayla. 
Yesterday I was with Eric.  I *remember* the sunrises."

"All dreams, Chris.  Products of your own very impressive
imagination.  With a little help from me, of course." he said
softly.  "With the exception of your encounter with Eric
yesterday morning, everything you think happened occurred only
in your dreams."  He gestured for her to sit in one of the
chairs that faced her desk.  "I can see that it is difficult
to comprehend.  Chris, I am not a wizard or a magician or
whatever you have called me in your mind.  I am a very
powerful telepath."

"Telepath?  You mean you are a mind reader?"  Chris exclaimed.

Adrian grimaced.  "That is...one manifestation of my
abilities, but only one.  I can also do other things such as
create very realistic illusions as I did when I morphed you
into Lassie."

"Lassie was a collie.  You made me into an Irish Setter."
Chris said before she realized how silly that sounded.

Adrian chuckled.  "What ever.  It was effective.  I can also
put people into a trance-like state, much like hypnosis, only
much more powerful.  I did that with you on several occasions,
such as when you had me in bondage.  I induced you to free me,
then I restrained you as you had me, and then ordered you to
forget doing it.  You woke up thinking no time had passed.  I
also used that ability to make you did not see me in your
apartment when Eric arrived."  As if to prove his bona fides,
Adrian shimmered out of sight, leaving an empty chair where he
had been but moments before.  "See?" a disembodied voice
asked, then chuckled, "No, I guess you don't see anything. 
Your mind added the shimmer illusion on its own - I would
hazard a guess that you are a Trekkie, so your mind added the
transporter effect." Suddenly, he was back where he'd been. 
"Both you and Eric were induced not to see me yesterday when
he arrived.  In fact, you tripped over me when you rushed to
the door."

Christiana's eyes went wide as she remembered that near fall,
and then she remembered something else.  Her eyes narrowed as
she remembered making love with Eric the rest of the day. 
"Were you there when we made love?" she hissed out.

Luthor made a show of warding off her anger with his hands and
then smiled. "No, once you two had patched up and I realized
where your reconciliation was heading, I let myself out and
went home to get some well earned rest."  He watched as Chris
relaxed.  "The other major ability is my power to affect
dreams.  What happened with those other three submissives did
not happen anywhere but in your dreams.  I used your memories
and your perceptions of your playmates.  Deep inside, you were
ashamed of your recent behaviors.  I simply picked the
memories with the most shame associated with them and let you
experience the consequences in your dreams.  When you
traveled, it was somewhere you had been before.  That is why
the trips fit in with how you remembered them.  Recall your
reaction to the road to Lillian's.  It was empty because that
is how you remembered it being the last time you went there."

"So that's why I woke up each time with nothing of the
previous day's experiences still with me."  He nodded.  "Why
did Kayla's scene end?  Why did I come out of that without her
releasing me?"

"Because you would have been hurt if it had proceeded." he
held up a hand to stop her next question. "Yes, it was a
dream, but in your mind, it was real.  You lost it in there. 
Your mind could not handle it.  I stopped that dream before
any real damage could be done.  I stayed with you the entire
night for that very reason.  So I could intercede if you tried
to punish yourself *too* much for your own sanity."

It was all so much to take in.  So very confusing.  Chris
shook her head, numbly.  "All in one night?  Like some kinky
novel by Charles Dickens?"  She asked.

"Yep.  All in one night.  Too bad your name is Christiana and
not Carol - we could have called this little drama "A Mistress
Carol".  Of course, that would make me Jacob Marley and as I
recall, that story started out with the declaration that
Marley was dead.  I, on the other hand, am quite alive."

The little joke lifted Christiana's spirits and made her feel
better.  "So it was all a dream?" she mused, then recalled the
scene with Leon and how pleasurable their lovemaking had been.

"Yes, nothing actually happened to you physically, but you
reacted as your mind let you react.  In other words, you will
likely respond the same way to anything that happened to you
in real life as you did in those dreams."

A wicked grin spread across her face as she thought of Eric, a
white gown and a special wedding night when a bride offered
her lover a special gift she had not known she still had to
give him.  The domme in her bristled a bit at the one sided
submission of it and Chris decided that the night would be all
the more special if two maiden heads were offered and
accepted.  She'd have to get a plaster cast of Eric's cock the
next time he bottomed to her.  Lillian did amazing things with
latex molds.  A mental image of her, standing over Eric, in
white satin lingerie and a white strap-on harness that held a
perfect model of his own, beautiful erection.  A night to
remember, indeed.  An eye for an eye, a butt for a butt. 

"Sterile, water based lubricants are best, my dear.  I'm told
Astro-something is quite the rage these days for folks who
enjoy entering by way of the back door." Adrian broke into her
fantasies with a evil grin of his own.

Chris went puce with embarrassment.  She'd forgotten he could
read her mind.  She coughed and tried to look innocent.  His
smirk told her it was a lost cause and she laughed.  Then, she
remembered what she had just spent the morning doing.  "Oh,
hell.  I just spent the last hour playing matchmaker based on
those dreams, Adrian."

Sheepishly, Adrian looked away.  "Well, there is one other
little thing you should know.  I found it out when I was
tinkering around in your head."  Chris arched a brow at him in
a silent demand for an explanation.  "Yes.  Hmmmm.  Well, it
turns out you are a very powerful psychic empath.  You sense
and, to some degree, direct emotion.  That was the bulk of
your problem. Remember that I explained to you that you were
ill?  And that I had fixed it?"  Chris nodded, wondering where
this was going. "Well, most people are bored and you were
constantly picking up on that.  You were being assaulted by
other people's ennui.  You did not know how to shield
yourself.  That is what I did when I "cured" you.  I helped
you build a psychic shield.  Anyway, you *knew* how your
partners felt because you had *read* them with your powers. 
Additionally, I "linked" you with the sleeping mind of the
person you were playing with in your dream so that you could
access their perceptions of you while the scenario played out. 
In each case, I think your little romantic nudges are dead on. 
I don't know Lillian, but Molly and Leon are attracted to one
another.  I read them while they were talking to you."

Chris breathed a sigh of relief.  "Now what?"

He shrugged.  "I think you need to be trained to control and
to develop your talent.  I can help you with that.  And Eric
is going to suggest you both go into counseling together.  You
both have a lot of history to deal with and a good therapist
will help you."

She nodded reflectively, they had been through a lot together
and it might make things easier if someone else helped them
put those experiences in perspective.  "Eric said you
counseled him.  Are you going to be the one he suggests?"

"No. You and I have history, too, and I am going to be your
teacher.  I gave him the name of a scene-friendly female
therapist who will help you both.  You have to learn how to
bottom, and he has to learn how to separate your play persona
from your real feelings when you go over the edge.  You will,
too.  You play hard and you will slip up from time to time,
even with my training to help you.  Eric understands that,
now.  But he needs to learn how to accept it, too."

"Okay.  I can see that.  So, tell me.  How do you feel about
coming to a wedding?"

"I would love to come."  He smiled at the thought of a
marriage out of the near ashes and at his own success as a
matchmaker.

Christiana's smile answered his before becoming sly. "So,
Adrian.  If I am psychic like you are and you are going to be
my teacher."  She let the words drop before hurrying on.  "Any
chance you can teach me how to do that dream control thing?"  

A quick glimpse into Christiana's mind showed Adrian her
thoughts were alive with the possibilities - dream scening and
even better, dream lovemaking.  His own groin clenched at the
images that were floating about that inventive mind.  He would
have to go carefully training this one, he mused.  She
possessed the potential for great power coupled with a vivid
imagination.

He laughed.  "We'll see.  I am not sure the world is ready for
you to be stirring up people's dreams.  We'll see how it goes. 
Once you can control your natural talent we will see if it is
a good idea to try to develop any other ones."  He stood and
kissed her on the cheek.  "I have to run along and get some
rest and you should be getting ready for that ring buying
trip."

Eric was arriving just as he was leaving.  Adrian had just
paused to greet his young friend when a sound from inside
Christiana's office caught his attention.  The sound he heard
Christiana singing.  Curious, now, Adrian stopped for a moment
longer to listen.  Laughter bubbled up as he recognized the
tune.  It was the Everly Brothers' golden oldie, "Dream,
Dream, Dream." 

Adrian sighed, knowing her powerful will had a new goal to
strive for.  Maybe the world needed to get ready for
Christiana sooner than he had initially believed. 

The song ended when Eric crossed into the room.  Adrian
"peeked" inside the room, just for a second, with his mind. 
The click of the office door lock confirmed what his sneak
peek had surmised.  Chris and Eric would be late for their
ring fitting appointment.

And they lived, loved and played, happily ever after.

                               ~----------~