Intersex: Noun
1: a term used to describe people who are born with biological sex characteristics that don’t fit the binary of male or female. These characteristics can include reproductive organs, anatomy, hormones, or chromosomes. Intersex traits may be apparent at birth, or they may not appear until puberty or adulthood.
Ash
I wish I could say that we got right down to business but Gwenny had other plans, she wasn’t about to let me outrank her walk. We took her out for a late night stroll around the block to do her business and stretch her legs. I held her leash and fed her treats as Ricky and I walked arm in arm, getting to know each other better. By the time we got back I felt more confident but at the same time, anxious. We put Gwenny in her kennel and said goodnight. She glared at me as if I had just taken her man and, well, yeah, that was the idea.
Suck it, bitch! I gloated in my thoughts.
Ricky led me back into the kitchen where I watched in fascination as he moved around completely by memory. He filled two highball glasses with ice, then poured one part rum with two parts Coca-Cola. He topped them off with lime wedges and spilled not one drop. I was amazed as he handed me one of the glasses. “How did you know when to stop pouring?”
“Sound,” he sipped his drink as we moved to sit in the living room. He joined me on the couch. “I can measure by how full the glass sounds as I’m pouring. I made a lot of messes until I pinned down the right notes.”
“Notes, like in musical notes? Oh, I get it! It’s like music and you have perfect pitch! You’re so smart to make that connection.”
He blushed, “Thank you, but I’m not confident enough to live on my own yet.”
“It looks like it to me.”
“Maybe so, but a lady comes in during the week to clean and shop for me. My mom helps out on weekends. You’ll meet her eventually. Well, um, probably” he said with a tiny frog in his throat.
I took a sip and hummed my approval, “Mm, this is good! It tastes different somehow, better.”
“That’s because it’s top shelf rum. My father has access to the stuff heads of state drink.”
“What does he do again? Sorry, I forgot. I was a little, um, distracted last time.” I coughed.
“Oh, you were?” He blushed bashfully with the most beautiful smile. “My dad works as an interpreter for the State Department. He’s usually there during tense international meetings.”
“Damn, that’s impressive!”
“It is, and I hope to follow him into the service. That’s why I volunteer at the Family Services Center when I’m not in classes. They always need an interpreter.”
“I feel like such a slacker. You have overcome so much, accomplished so much, and we’re the same age. I admire that about you.” I smiled.
“Don’t sell yourself short, Ash.” Ricky insisted. “I grew up with a lot of advantages. You overcame illness, crushing poverty, the loss of your mom…” He continued speaking as he took our glasses and carefully placed them on the coffee table. “You became this incredibly sweet, the gentlest, most brilliant human being I have ever met.”
“Ricky…” I was at a loss for words. At his command Alexa played “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. He took me by the hand and guided me out to stand on the open floor. There he slid his hands up my neck, then combed them back through my hair in the most sensual manner. I purred as he brushed my lips with his thumbs. He bent until our lips touched, feathery light at first, then deepening as the song progressed.
He took me gently into his arms and we began to dance slowly. He rested his cheek against mine and sang to me:
When your legs don’t work like they used to before
And I can’t sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks
And darling I will be loving you ‘til we’re 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I’m thinking ‘bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
I choked up at his words and wiped away smiling tears. I nuzzled him sweetly, “you have a beautiful voice.”
“Thank you,” his cheeks warmed modestly.
I took a moment to reflect. This intimate time with Ricky felt very different from when I spent time with Trevor and Alejo. I could not place my finger on specifically why but I knew the answer was important. I resolved to think about it later. Right now my heart belonged to Ricky.
We resumed dancing when Ricky sniffed my hair, tickling my ear. I giggled and he smiled. “You smell incredible.”
My giggling became a throaty purr as he kissed my neck. I bared my throat to him and he continued kissing. I helped as he slid my shrug jacket off my shoulders. It fell to the floor with a whispery thud, followed soon after by my mesh sleeves. I gasped as he slid his big, strong hands under my shirt and lifted it off. He tossed it away and I cooed at how good his hands felt gliding over my bare skin.
“So sensitive,” he caressed my arms. “So soft and warm. I-I hope this is okay, I’ve been aching to touch you,” he confessed with a nervous voice.
“Yeah, I-I like it.” I replied with a fluttery breath.
“You can touch me anywhere you want, any time you want,” he drew me by the hand and placed it on his chest.
“You can touch me too, um, anywhere.” I gulped as our lips touched tenderly.
“Do I need permission from your boyfriend?” he teased with a playful smirk. I thumped his chest lightly for that, earning a cute laugh in return. He quickly turned his attention to better things.
Ricky explored my naked skin with grave attention. My breath hitched sensitively as he drew his fingers up my sides. He moved onward from there to trace the grooves and swells of burgeoning muscle in my abdomen.
My breaths quivered as Ricky drew me into his embrace. I rooted in his hair with my nose, my coppery ringlets tangling with his sable coils. I registered a spicy fragrance first, followed by evergreen and oiled leather. A richer, muskier aroma underneath riveted my attention. That scent curled vaporous fingers into my brain and drew a rumbling growl from deep inside my balls. I paid no attention to what I was doing until Ricky pressed my lips tightly against his neck, moaning with pleasure. I grew conscious that I left a mark on him that all would recognize right away, he was mine. He rubbed the back of my head lovingly as I broke away and kissed my handiwork. I resumed inhaling his scent. It struck me as potent and masculine, erotic, uniquely Ricky. He chuckled against my ear, “having fun?”
“Mm-hm,” I hummed with satisfaction. You’re mine now.” I attempted to inject my voice with a hint of humor to lessen the impact but Ricky didn’t seem to care. He replied in a soft, sultry voice.
“I’m yours, like how Trevor is yours?” He placed a kiss on my shoulder.
My cheeks flared hotly as I nodded where he could feel it, clutching him possessively. He chuckled deep in his throat, “So greedy, you think you have enough to keep us both satisfied?”
To reply, I tugged his shirt tails from his pants and skimmed my hands underneath. I memorized every swell and bulge of his powerful muscles with my fingers until his shirt flew through the air to be forgotten. I took a step back to admire Ricky in all his athletic glory.
I touched his sides as he did to me earlier, tracing the sculpted ridge and deep grooves of his Adonis Belt. From there, I placed trembling palms flat to the solid plates of muscle that stacked like cobblestones in his abdomen but oh, the best part came when I bumped into the steep swell of his pectorals. He possessed the chest of a Titan and I got to touch it anytime I liked.
He gasped when the pads of my fingers bump-bumped-bumped across his nipples. I jerked back, “sorry!”
“It’s okay,” he took my hands and placed them back. His cheeks flushed hotly as he admitted “I-I liked it. They’re very sensitive.”
“Oh, yeah?” My smile turned sly as I drew little circles on his areolas and flicked his pebbly little nubs. They grew erect instantly much to our mutual delight. I let him play with my nipples too. This broke the ice between us, I got more and more comfortable with him and continued exploring.
Ricky caressed my forearms encouragingly as I lightly rubbed both of my palms up his neck. The late evening stubble covering his throat and jaw promised to drive me wild later, I could hardly wait. For now, I scratched behind his ears, earning a pleasant shiver in response, followed immediately by a sexy moan. I massaged his scalp to a plethora of cute little grunts and whimpers, I filed that away for later and moved to his face.
I smoothed back his masculine eyebrows and brushed over his thick lashes. I admired his arrow straight nose and full, sensuous lips. He clamped my thumb between his teeth and sucked on it like I did last time. I pumped my thumb in and out of his mouth, picturing those gorgeous red lips wrapped around something else of mine. I replaced my thumb with a kiss that seemed to last forever. I’d have been fine if it did.
We rocked from foot to foot, not really dancing, just moving to the music, our foreheads touching. We breathed each other’s air while our hands roamed freely over our bodies, savoring our newfound freedom and intimacy. I felt tranquil and yet abuzz with restless anticipation. I sensed as Ricky swallowed hard and took a steadying breath. He drew me by the chin to look into his beautiful, sightless eyes, “would you…like to take this to the bedroom?”
He held his breath, anxiously awaiting my answer. I felt better knowing that he was nervous too. I took a steadying breath of my own as my brain kitties pounced on the yarn ball of my thoughts and tumbled over the lip of a cliff.
What if I come on too strong or worse, not strong enough? It wasn’t like I had an instruction manual for this. I wondered why I felt so nervous, this wasn’t my first rodeo. Then it hit me.
Trevor and I never dated, the same with Alejo. Sure, we did things and saw movies together but the vibe always struck me as besties hanging out. The same went with sex.
Trevor and I would be playing Overwatch in our underwear when Trevor scratched his balls. “I’m horny, you down to fuck?”
“Sure,” I dropped the controller and tackled him off the side of the bed for a playful romp.
With Alejo, it was always while we were cooking. We would be naked in the kitchen, dancing to 90’s music. Invariably, I would reach for something and he would slot his boner in the cleft of my ass. A little cooking oil, a deep thrust, and boom, we started our work day with a smile. Sex was quick, easy, and fun. I felt completely different with Ricky.
This intimate moment with Ricky was special, it was important, it bore weight and meaning. This wasn’t about sex… although there was definitely going to be sex. I wanted to please him. I wanted this moment to be perfect for both of us but how? My brain kitties climbed up the cliff and now shredded the drapes of my composure when I suddenly noticed that I hadn’t answered Ricky. He waited quietly, probably wondering why I took so long. What did I say? How did I say it?
Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit!
And then it occurred to me–there were other ways to get my point across.
I jumped into Ricky’s arms and kissed him. He leaned back with a start of surprise but then he relaxed with a deep, breathy moan. He wrapped me in his bulging arms and kissed me back, lifting me until my toes curled off the floor with pleasure. Damn, this boy could kiss!
He finally set me back on my feet and grinned from ear-to-ear. “I take that as a ‘yes’.”
I nodded quickly, turning red as a beet as I forgot he couldn’t see me nod. “Um, yes.”
We walked hand in hand to Ricky’s bedroom. I flipped on the lights (Ricky forgot) and filled the room with a soft amber glow much like the flame of many candles. I got my first look at his most private space.
The décor was Tolkieneseque and minimalist in springtime forest hues of bare wood and green with highlights of gold. Gold rope bound back curtains of rich forest green. A sturdy king-size bed dominated the room and looked comfy enough to satisfy hobbits. The headboard included built-in end tables set with lamps as well as a shelf across the back full of books and fantasy figurines. A leather padded foot chest sat at the end. The head of the bed rested against the left wall between two windows with a large window left of center on the opposite wall. Directly across from me stood a tall chest of drawers with handles shaped like golden leaves. Another door to my immediate left stood open in the same wall as the entrance. I glanced inside at a spacious bathroom with a separate tub and standing shower. A third door at the end opened into a huge walk-in closet. I saw no mirrors outside of the bathroom, which made sense. Thankfully, Ricky kept his mother from hanging more of her morbid desert skeleton paintings in here.
These walls were adorned with family photos, pictures of Gwenny in her guide dog harness, several of a younger Ricky on stage in shakespearean costumes, Ricky’s high school diploma, and floating shelves with state championship gymnastics and baseball trophies surrounded by Ricky in his team uniforms. Original paintings of flying fantasy creatures hung alongside nude Celtic God and Goddess art.
A console table under the light switch to my left revealed how much Ricky organized his life. A bank note organizer and coin dispenser sat on the table beside a stowed laptop computer. He placed his telescoping blind cane and his wallet with them. Next, he placed his Cuban necklace, rings, and friendship bracelets on a jewelry tree shaped like the White Tree of Gondor. We left our shoes by the front door but Ricky pointed out the clothes hamper just inside the bathroom door for our socks and clothing.
“Oh, wow!” I exclaimed with delight. “Your room is beautiful! It’s a gamer’s dream room.” I grinned.
“It’s everything I had before the accident, including my book collection. Tell me what you see?”
I described everything using my artistic eye. I got carried away with the book titles and Tolkien references but Ricky listened with rapt attention, a small smile on his lips.
Finally, he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He followed with a kiss under my ear. “You make it sound so beautiful but to me there is nothing more beautiful than you.”
“Ricky…” I grew speechless, his words moved me deeply. He took the opportunity to act on his desire.
Ricky removed my belt and tossed it aside, then unfastened the clasp of my jeans. He breathed hotly next to my ear, “Is this okay?”
“oh-oh-oh, yeah,” the muscles in my back jumped excitedly as he kissed down my spine, pulling my pants and underwear down with him. I stepped out and kicked them away with my socks when he hugged my hips and buried his nose in the cleft of my ass.
“R-R-Ricky–?” I stuttered as he took a deep whiff, puffing hot air across my taint and balls. He pulled me tighter against him, growling hungrily.
“You smell incredible,” he ran his palms over the flesh of my ass cheeks. “So smooth and soft, muscular…perfect.” He placed a reverent kiss on each cheek before turning me around.
I covered my little boner self-consciously. Ricky heard me mewl and frowned, “Ash, what’s wrong?”
I couldn’t say it. I reluctantly moved my hand away and put his hand on my cock. Tears of shame trickled down my cheeks as I waited. I never felt this strongly before, what was different about this time with Ricky?
My cock jumped at the feathery light touch of his hand. “What’s wrong?” He asked again as he took me in his grip.
I choked up. “My cock is too small!”
“What? No!” Ricky stroked me slowly, chuckling a little as he did. “You’re hung appropriately for your height.”
He really didn’t care, that surprised me. “I…I am?”
Ricky stood and hugged me close. “Yes, you are. Even if you were small, I wouldn’t care.”
I sniffed back tears, “you wouldn’t?”
“No, I wouldn’t, but I understand why you’re afraid.” Ricky swallowed an anxious knot in his throat. “I’m afraid too.”
“You, why?” I drew back, astonished.
“Just…look for yourself.”
I pressed against him and slid down, leaving a trail of kisses in my wake until I landed on my knees before him.
I could not imagine why he might be afraid, Ricky was the most gorgeous hunk of man I’d ever laid eyes on. He was well hung, that much was obvious from the sizable bulge in his leather jeans.
I cast his belt aside and peeled his pants and jockstrap down with some trepidation when the biggest, fattest cock sprang forth and smacked me right on the nose. I gasped as I examined it.
A thick shaft of flesh jutted proudly from a neatly trimmed triangle of black pubic hair, weighed down by a sizable crown. It pulsed with life as I watched, rousing from its slumber like a great serpent to the scent of prey.
I observed smooth skin along the shaft, the same nut brown color as Ricky’s nipples. A cowl of foreskin stretched back from the broad head, revealing a color several shades lighter. A set of huge balls hugged the base of the shaft snuggly, wrapped in soft scrotal skin. A string of clear, viscous fluid wept from the meatus, the slit in the tip of Ricky’s crown. It dangled temptingly, teasing me much in the manner of an angler fish. I flicked it with my tongue and sealed my fate.
I looked up in abject confusion. “Um, what’s wrong with it?”
Ricky bit his lip anxiously, “you don’t see it? Girls, guys, they all said it was too big and dumped me on the spot.”
I waited a beat for him to laugh and say “just kidding” but he looked sincerely distressed. “You were afraid I might see it and dump you?”
He nodded, “the same as when you thought you were too small. I worried it might be too much for you.”
“Oh, baby, no!” I cupped his shaft lovingly against my cheek. “Ricky, hon, if you know nothing else about me, know that there can never be too much cock.” –did I say that out loud?
He blurted out a laugh in relief. “You like him?”
I beamed, “Do I ‘like him’? I cannot wait to try him on for size!” Ricky blushed deep red at that and caressed my lips tenderly.
“That’s the idea.”
He pushed me gently to my knees to worship at his erotic altar. I took his beast in hand and marveled at its size.
“Oh, my god, Ricky….” I studied his erection with breathless awe. I estimated the length of his organ to be equal to that of Alejo and a good bit thicker, with a slight upward curve. The underside was thickest at the base, tapering toward the flared crown, leaving the breadth equal in measurement from root to tip. It throbbed with life and power in my grasp, a dominating display of masculinity.
“This ain’t no trouser snake or a python. It’s a goddamn dragon!” I breathed in astonishment. “What do you feed this thing?” I boggled.
“Virgins, of course,” Ricky smirked.
“Um, yeah, we’re fresh out of those….” My gut clenched anxiously.
Ricky apparently heard something wrong in my tone of voice. He pulled me to my feet for a kiss. “I’m sorry, I was joking. I love that you have experience.”
I giggled, “are you calling me a slut?”
“Do you want me to call you a slut?” He asked in all seriousness.
I thought about it. “Sometimes, but not tonight. I want sweet, loving Ricky.”
“Then ‘sweet, loving Ricky’ is what you shall have.”
I returned to my knees and got to work. I kissed his cock hello, then lashed it with kittenish swipes of my tongue until it glistened with spit. That made a monster like this easier to take down my throat. Before long, I had swallowed his cock whole like a python devouring a capybara. I buried my nose in his pubes and nursed on him with the enthusiasm of a suckling calf. Ricky threw his head back in ecstasy, his thighs quivering around me. “Caralho!” He swore rapturously. “Nobody has ever deepthroated me!”
I gazed up at him, drinking in the sight of his mountainous muscles while I played with his tits. When I felt him tense, ready to climax, I popped him out of my mouth and buried my nose in the crease of his thighs. His hot, musky pheromones drove me into an erotic frenzy. I sucked on his balls, only able to fit one in my mouth at a time due to their size. God, what a man!
I sucked him to the screaming edge of release several times, then held him on the brink. His cock swelled until it looked ready to explode, signaling his imminent climax.
“Ash…there’s something…” he babbled in excruciating bliss. “I…you should…don’t…I need…wait!” Ricky sank his fingers in my hair as his climax consumed him. He fired long, thick white ropes of prime, Grade “A” juicy jism down my throat. I could not keep up with the sheer volume of his spunk, so I pulled away to catch my breath. That proved to be a mistake. Ricky hosed down my face with his creamy rich protein.
“ACK!” I fell back wiping his spooge from my eyes. Ricky settled with a breathy laugh, then dropped down to lick his discharge from my face and share it with me in long, creamy kisses.
“I tried to tell you,” he giggled. “I come buckets. It’s a condition called Hyperspermia.”
“You could have told me earlier. Did you want to hear me choke on it?” I peered at him in mock outrage. He replied with a shameless grin.
“Maybe,” he laughed as I thumped him playfully. “Seriously, that was the best head ever. You. Are. Amazing!”
“Thank you,” I giggled.
“Oh, I should be the one thanking you.” He tugged me to my feet and twirled us in a joyful circle. We kissed for ages, then tumbled back into bed.
“This is the best night ever!” Ricky caressed my cheek as we lay facing each other. My heart felt like it might explode from happiness.
After a while I climbed on top of him. There we kissed and rubbed our cocks together in mutual seduction until our chests heaved with breathless desire.
Ricky flipped us until I lay on my back. He then pinned my wrists over my head and kissed me to within an inch of my life. “This is it.” He declared. “There is no going back after this. This is your last chance to back out.”
I replied without hesitation. “I want this. I want you.”
“So be it.” He beamed brilliantly and kissed his way down my belly. My excitement grew as he neared my cock until I reached a fever pitch.
He drove me crazy, licking and sucking everywhere but my cock. I squirmed under him seeking some kind of relief when he finally swallowed me down, cock and balls in one gulp. My eyes rolled back in my head as I cried out “Oh, god, Ricky!”
I froze in lewd shock as he licked past my balls to stimulate my taint. Just how long was his tongue? Whatever, I twitched as sparks of light and lust blasted my composure to smithereens.
My head flew back on the bed, “Close!” I gurgled. Ricky hummed and kicked me over the edge of screaming ecstasy. He drank every drop and kissed my cock goodbye.
Ricky lay at my side to kiss me, sharing the taste of my spent passion in the process. I held his face in both hands and scooped out every drop of protein I could reach with my tongue. After a little while he straddled my chest and painted my lips with his cock. I lapped his pearly secretions clean.
“Get me wet for you,” he commanded and I shivered. This was it. The. Moment. I slathered his serpent with saliva until his balls pulled tight and his juices flowed down my throat like a river. He pulled back with a hiss, “you are too good at that!”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing!” I kissed his dragon goodbye as Ricky slid down the bed. He propped my ass up with pillows and parted my rear cheeks with long, strong fingers. I stiffened with a sharp gasp when he kissed my little rosebud.
Ricky chuckled deeply, “so sensitive. Open up for me now, baby.”
He probed deep with his tongue, reaching places inside me no one ever had. He lashed my tender skin with his oral invader, he fluttered the tip, driving me insane. He added fingers one at a time stretching, pulling me open, never letting me grow accustomed to the sensation until I writhed on the bed, a wanton ball of need. Finally I whimpered, “oh god, please fuck me!”
“As you wish,” Ricky grinned wickedly. He fetched a pump bottle and shortly thereafter a sweet, familiar fragrance filled the air. I frowned, suddenly curious. “Coconut?”
“Coconut oil,” Ricky confirmed. “It makes great natural lube and tastes good.” He slathered it on his cock, then pushed more inside my nether entrance until I was good and slippery. He climbed to his knees and the mighty dragon’s shadow passed over me, soon to plunder my hidden treasure.
I vibrated with eagerness when Ricky rested my legs over his shoulders and set the tip of his massive cock dead on target. He bent me double to kiss. At the same time his great beast sank into me inch after glorious inch until his balls twitched restlessly against my ass. I marveled at the absence of pain or at least, pain that hurt. Ricky stretched me to the point of bursting. I gasped when his beastly intruder raked across my prostate and I threw my head back with a long, guttural moan.
“Should I pull out?” Ricky bit his lip anxiously.
“NO!” I pincered his waist with my legs and pulled him deeper. My vision flashed with incandescent ecstacy. I saw stars, my nerves crackled as Ricky’s mighty dragon engulfed me in fiery bliss. I clutched my lover’s back and surrendered to my fate. “Good! Oh God…so good!”
Ricky pumped slowly, carefully, his legendary monster ravaging my prostate, stoking the flames of my passion into a lusty conflagration. The heat of our joining consumed me. Soon I begged him, I pleaded, I wept for “more,” “harder,” “deeper,” and “faster” until our bodies crashed together with thunderous claps.
After that, my sweet, tender Ricky fell to the claws of lust and in his place stood a creature of salacious hunger. We kissed savagely, all our pent up desire for one another exploding forth in wild, giddy rapture.
“You like this? You like my cock?” Ricky huffed with effort.
I was totally fuck drunk, only able to mutter “more…more…more!”
“So greedy” he laughed and rutted me with long, powerful strokes until I screamed my release.
“RICKY!”
He coiled around my body and struck home with a final, ruthless stab. His cock pulsed inside me as mine jerked with jolts of pleasure. At long last we collapsed in a heap of sweaty satisfaction.
We locked our fingers together and kissed tenderly, savoring the moment as we rested.
“Thank you,” Ricky smiled sweetly.
“I should be thanking you. That was amazing!” I leaned for a kiss.
He blushed at that. “I meant to go slow for our first time but you took all of me, that was a first, and, well…”
“What is it?” I turned his chin so that he faced me. He couldn’t see me but he understood the gesture. He paused in thought for a long moment.
“You are the only person I allowed get this close to me since the accident.”
“Oh, my god,” I caressed his cheek as he nodded.
“It has been three years since…you know…like this. I got carried away. I’m sorry.”
“Ricky, no, I loved it! You can get carried away all you want!”
“Really,” his smile turned wicked. “You should know what that means. Before the accident, I had a reputation at school.” He bent and licked inside my ear. “They said I was ‘oversexed’ and ‘insatiable’.”
I mirrored his wickedness, “prove it.”
Prove it, he did! I came three more times before I fell asleep and Ricky showed no signs of slowing down. I woke at some point to find him asleep, spooning me protectively. I lay content as rays of morning sunlight pierced the drapes. I saw more family pictures on the end table and thought about how little I actually knew Ricky. He had been through so much and it shaped him into the man he had become. I wanted to know more about him. No, I needed to know. I saw as daylight revealed the closest framed portrait and I froze in utter disbelief. I saw a woman and she was familiar, too familiar.
It was Carla.
To be continued…
AUTHOR NOTE: No two intersex people are alike. Ash’s symptoms reflect the experience of one person save where mentioned.
SPECIAL NOTE: I write in an imaginary world where sexually transmitted diseases do not exist. Sadly, they do in the real world. Stay safe. PrEP before you play and glove it before you love it.
