"So how does it look?"

In an instant, my mouth had gone dry and pasty; "Wow!" I finally managed to croak out.

"I've been working out pretty hard and I finally feel good enough about this to show someone, so you got the duty..." she said as she lowered the hem of her shirt.

"I am truly honored and touched." (And quiet a bit turned on, I failed to mention... )

"Well, I gotta run. I'll catch up to you later..." she said as she turned on her heels and slipped out the door with an impish sparkle in her eyes.

I worked the rest of the day with that damned image on my mind, half distracted and lost with the vision of her oh-so-tan six-pack belly newly firmed with her exercise program. It's not as if I hadn't seen well-toned bodies before, being a physical therapist and all; well trained athletes and workout fanatics were my stock in trade. Yet the image of her smooth skin was burned into my consciousness, staying with me well after I went home and occupying my thoughts well into the first few stages of sleep...

The next day dawned warm and slightly humid. I rolled carefully out of bed, slightly hung over with sleep and sporting my usual half-chub as I headed for the bathroom to take care of morning business. 30 minutes and a couple of cups of coffee later, I was headed for the office, running the list of patients scheduled for me this morning thru my head. I had just gotten to the office, and was just at the front desk reading the days mail when the receptionist interrupted my reverie, informing me that there was a phone call waiting for me on line 1. "A lady," she says with a wink and a leer. My love life ( or more accurately, lack of love life) was a constant source of office amusement or gossip. On various occasions, I had been rumored to be gay, considering life in the seminary, or engaged to some Eastern European princess or countess or something like that. All false of course, but certainly more entertaining than the truth.

"Hello, ExtremeSport Physical Therapy, Alex speaking; how can I help you?"

"Oh, Alex, I'm glad that you're there already."

" What's up, Mary Kay?" At the sound of her mischievous voice, a vision of her tan, toned belly leapt into my mind's eye.

" I was just curious what you thought of body piercing; I was thinking of getting my belly button pierced, and I wanted to know if you thought it was safe?"

"And may I ask what brought this on? And why ask me? Why not your doctor?" I said to her, knowing that she had been going out with one of the new ER docs at our hospital.

"Him? I kicked him to the curb a couple of weeks ago; seems all he cared about was his work and his sailing, and since I don't sail, that put me pretty far down on his list. Besides, I trust you; I know you wouldn't let anyone go and stick something in me if you thought it was bad for me."

"Oh, really? How do you know that? And when would I ever think that it would be ok for anyone to stick something in you?"

"I'm sure you could think of something to stick in me that would be ok..." she purred in an unexpectedly sexy voice.

Suddenly caught off guard, all I could say was "Ummm..." (witty, eh?).

A burst of her musical laughter soothed my discomfiture. "So is it ok? Can I go and get this done?"

"I guess so," I said, regaining my composure. "Just be careful about sterility when they are putting it in, and watch for any signs of infection. If you run into any problems, give me a call."

"I definitely will; see you soon, Alex."

Unfortunately for me, that was not to be, as the day, then the rest of the week, followed by the next week, turned ugly and stayed that way, and I became swamped with patients, paperwork, and personnel problems. I forgot all about Mary Kay and her beautiful tanned, and probably pierced belly in the crush of work... that is, I did until...

"Alex!! Line 1!! Been waiting for you!"

"Ok, ok... !!" Another end of the day call that no one can deal with but me. I cursed the stupid phone. Can't anyone answer questions but me? At least I was finally getting out from under some of this work... "Hello, ExtremeSport Physical Therapy; Alex speaking."

"Hi, Alex, it's Mary Kay."

"Hello Mary Kay; thank God it's you. I was dreading another inane call from a doctor's office or HMO rep. What can I help you with?"

"Remember what we were talking about a couple of weeks ago?"

I quickly sifted through what was left of my brain and found the right piece of information; "The piercing thing?"

"Yes, that's it... well... um... this is a bit embaressing."

"What is? Is something the matter with it? When did you have it done? And what did you have done, for that matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing terrible... it's just a little belly button ring. It just is a little sore and I was wondering if you could take a quick look at it to make sure it's ok. It's not real red or anything, but I was just hoping..."

Of course I'll look at it... and maybe a little more too, my mind screamed; but I managed to rein in my libido for a few seconds and act nonchalant, "Sure, just stop by the office. Are you in the hospital?"

"No, but I can get there by six o'clock. Will you still be there?"

I checked my watch quickly and thought about the work I still had left to do; " Ok; just come on in. The staff will be gone by then, but I've got a ton of paperwork to do. I'll just leave the front door open. Is that ok?"

"No problem; see you in a couple of hours."

That little issue arranged, I set myself to my work, quickly becoming so intent on my work that I remember nothing until I heard the soft knock at my office door, and Mary Kay's soft voice, "Hello... not interrupting, am I?"

I quickly turned and found myself face to face with her... her beautiful tanned legs perfectly set off with a pair of sexy white shorts, a well fitted grey tank top and her 1000-watt smile. "So how are you? I guess you went ahead and got that piercing against my advice..." I joked.

"What?!? You never said that!! You said that it was ok if I made sure that they kept things sterile and I watched out for infection!"

"Yeah, yeah... I guess I did say that, didn't I, " I conceded. "So what kind of problems are you having with this? You know, of course, that I'm not a doctor and I can't prescribe anything for it."

"I know, I know... but I just wanted someone I could trust to check to see if I need to go to the ER so I don't make a fool of myself."

"Well, I'll take a quick look..."

"Look as long as you want..." I thought I heard her murmur under her breath."

"What was that?" I said, startled. I looked up from my seat at her face, now furiously blushing as she stood above me.

"Nothing, nothing," she quickly said.

"Ok, but it sure sounded like you said something important back there," I teased.

"Well, maybe I did," she said impishly, as (I guess) she decided that a good offense was a good defense. "But since you weren't paying attention to me, I guess you'll just have to wonder about it."

Well, two can play at this game, I thought. "Well, then, let's see what the problem is. Can't have you coming to this office and thinking that I didn't take care of you as thoroughly as any other patient. Let's take a look."

"OK, but no funny stuff... I'm very ticklish."

"Of course, of course; I'll be completely professional," I said with my fingers crossed.

She stepped up closer to me, while I stayed seated in my chair, and slowly, deliberately, lifted the hem of her tank top, exposing that oh so exquisitely tanned and toned abdomen of hers... and there in the center of it all, her belly button with a small silver ring through the top of it, set off by a small silver ball with a diamond. But she didn't stop at just exposing her navel... no, she kept lifting until the hem was almost to the bottom of her breasts... and she said, "Can you see that ok?"

And I said, "Um, fine... looks fine. So where does it hurt?"

"On the left side of the ring."

Truth be told, it looked perfect; not a blemish or any sign of infection, reaction, or irritation. I could have just said so and let it go at that. But with this perfect abdomen with its sexy little navel ring in front of you, would you just cover it up? I didn't think so. So I reached out and very gently began to palpate the skin around the ring. "Does this hurt? Or this?"

Softly, she murmured, "No, feels fine." Which I knew it did, since I could see goose bumps forming on her skin, a sure sign of sexual arousal.

I took a chance and glanced up at her face while I was palpating and found her eyes closed, her tongue gently licking her lips, and her nipples just starting to show through her shirt. Clearly, she was very turned on... clearly, I had done this to her... and just then, I heard it... a very low, throaty moan which just escaped her lips, probably without her even realizing. And I knew! I knew that sound; the sound of desire, of building lust, of sexual need. And I said to her, "So how does this feel?" as I lowered my head to her belly and took the ring in between my lips, tasting the salty, metallic taste of the cool ring and her warm flesh.

"Aahhh, " she moaned, as she placed her hands on my head and held it to her belly. In return, I placed my hands on her hips and allowed my tongue to gently circle the ring, tickling it slowly before sliding it deep into her navel. "Oh, that's good," she murmured. "If you keep doing that, something is going to happen."

I momentarily raised my head and looked up at her. "Like what?"