The plumber towered over her like a sky scraper as he stood in the hallway, dangling a large, heavy tool box in one hand as easily as if it were a child's toy. His long blonde hair flowed behind his ears presenting a softness that contrasted pleasantly against his deep brow and square jaw. His bronzed muscles seemed ready to burst from his blue work shirt, only half buttoned up his wall-like, rock hard chest. While Safia tried to untie her tongue, he gave her a no-nonsense look that made his pale blue eyes so piercing, she thought they looked within her as much as upon her.

"You called about the blocked bathroom sink?" He asked, his voice like a boom distant thunder which gave only a hint of an oncoming storm's latent power.

"Yeah. Um, come in." Safia stuttered, finding herself shrinking against the wall as the man came in, as if she would disappear if his shadow fell upon her. She watched him carefully; almost with the admiration she would show a great work of art. Not only was he handsome in looks, he was handsome in how he moved. Every action he made seemed as deliberate as if he had planned it with deep thought on how it would look; and he wanted it to look very, very good.

"The bathroom is this way." Safia told him, regaining her composure. Her cell phone suddenly went off, taunting her like an errant cricket. It was in her bedroom. "Excuse me." She told him. "I'll be right back."

Safia trotted off to pick up the phone and dueled with a chatty friend who refused to let her return to her visitor. When Safia finally hung up, she found the Plumber standing over the white folding desk she used for research and writing.

"Oh crap!" She groaned and quickly inserted herself between him and the desk to block his view of what lay there. What she wanted to hide were a pile of papers listing words and phrases she collected for use in a particularly erotic scene of the romantic novel she was writing. It had been left in open view. She hoped desperately he had not seen it. By a faint smile that glimmered on his face, she knew that he had.

"Is that a wish list?" He asked, his smirk widening to show his white teeth, cocking his head to the papers on the table.

Safia opened her mouth to fire back some smart, cutting, humorous comment that would make him regret his snooping but, for once, she was at a loss for words. Her face burned with embarrassment. "Come on." She grumbled. "Take care of the damn sink!"

The Plumber was watching her closely as she moved. She could feel his eyes swinging in time to his hips. She had lost the chance to retort to his slyness but not the opportunity to taunt him with what he couldn't have. So she put an extra sway in her walk to get back at him.

"Here's the bathroom." Safia announced brusquely. "That's the problem." She said, pointing to the sink half full with water...

The Plumber dropped is toolbox on the floor. It landed with a crash that made Safia jump.

"That was some heavy duty stuff you had back there." The Plumber said as he bent down to open his box.

"Yeah, well ... I'm writing some heavy duty stuff." Safia responded acidly.

"I'd like to read it sometime." The Plumber told her as he rifled through his box.

"It will be a while. I have a bad case of writer's block." She said.

The Plumber looked up at Safia and smiled. "I can clear that block up too."

Safia was used to pick up lines, though not from plumbers. "Just fix the sink, smart guy."

The Plumber stood up. In an instant, he was moving with lightning quickness. He pushed Safia into the shower stall and grabbed her wrists, jerking them up to the shower head holder.

"Hey!" She cried, too surprised by what was going on to say anything else. When she regained her composure, she found herself in handcuffs with the link across the shower head holder, standing on her toes. She strained to get free, but could not pull the links over the holder's incline. She was helpless.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Safia complained in disbelief. "Where does a plumber get handcuffs?"

"I'm a freelance bounty hunter." The Plumber told her as he reached into his box. "Helps pay the mortgage."

He stood behind her, grabbed her blouse by the collar with his iron hands and ripped it apart, tearing it from her body and sending buttons flying.

"What the hell are you doing!" Safia cried. "Do you have any idea what that shirt cost?" But quietly she was impressed with his strength and how the shirt was like wet paper in his grasp.

"I'm clearing your writer's block." He laughed, but his voice as deep and hungry now. He took the straps of her bra and yanked them free, tossing it casually behind him. Safia felt a shiver of complete vulnerability as her breasts bobbed free stroked by cool air. As she shifted uncomfortably with her arms held above her, she knew he could do anything he wanted to her. Anything. She was too helpless to resist. She knew she should be afraid; she should scream for help. Yet she didn't. There was something intoxicating in his domination of her, probably because the Plumber lacked an aura of malevolence. She could feel his lust as his eyes stroked her back. It was a yearning that came from one who fell in love freely and gave it without hesitation. He was a raw power that was now directed through a lens of desire straight at her. How could she not be bewitched by that?