Being around the general put me in a near constant state of anxiety, a sort of hyper-awareness of his very male presence. Did he feel anything similar about me? I had no idea. And did he really read the Marquis de Sade for his earlier philosophy? Or did he really have a thing for that whips and chains stuff? Ick!

Yet it was hard to see such a controlled and flawlessly well-mannered man as a crazed sadist tying people up and whipping them. No, no, the idea was insane. But the idea of myself tied to a bed, or maybe standing up, tied to a post or something – naked – with him there ready to punish me, well... it was a strangely erotic mind picture which left my chest tight and sometimes made me throb in parts down low.

As I said, both of us were working long hours, and not really getting enough sleep. In addition, he was, I'm sure, highly stressed over fitting out the base, and the looming deadlines. The Spanish Vice Admiral in charge of Rota was a constant irritant to him. The land all around Rota was a part of the military reservation. It was that way for future expansion, and to keep anyone nosy or troublesome from building too close to the base.

This base, so far unnamed except for the startup staff, had been placed in that area, though it wasn't part of Rota. Mendez kept acting as if it was, however, and kept making demands. He clearly felt that since it was part of the Rota area military reservation it came under his command, and Laird was equally adamant that it wasn't. Mendez had made a lot of noise in that regard back to his superiors, and some of them, in turn, were making noises like they ought to also have control over this base.

Laird was becoming frustrated, and irritated by the number of orders Mendez was issuing.  Every time we got one Laird had to issue a very careful, and exquisitely polite reply which told Mendez to drop dead. That meant I had to write it down, of course, then translate it. I wasn't the only one on the base who spoke Spanish, by any means, but I was the general's aide.

One late night session we got one of those instructions, and Laird was already angry over a screwup in construction of the underground hangars. He was in a foul mood when the messenger delivered Mendez' latest missive, so much so that he crushed it in his fist after reading it.

“Get that fat little wog on the phone, Andrews,” he growled.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. “It's after ten, sir,” I said.

He glared at me.

“Vice Admiral Mendez doesn't work after three, sir,” I said, helpfully.

“Do you think I don't know that, Andrews?” he snapped.

“Sorry, sir.”

“Then call him.”

I reached for the phone, but hesitated. I knew very well, because Laird himself had explained it on earlier occasions, that Mendez had a lot of clout because of his family connections. I also knew that the politicians in charge had deliberately not put this base under his command because they wanted deniability for whatever classified missions were launched from it. Mendez had no real way to enforce his demands, in other words, and Laird knew that.

He simply had this thing about the arrogant little Spanish Vice Admiral. Maybe it was a British thing, but almost everything Mendez did or said irritated him more than anything else. The Vice Admiral seemed to have a way to get under his skin like nobody else.

And he was already in a bad mood, and needed to get to sleep. He was not, in other words, thinking clearly. If he called up Mendez and started saying rude things to him that could very well cost him his command. And wasn't my job as an aide to do whatever the general needed? That included protecting him from his own bad impulses.

“Is that wise, sir?” I asked hesitantly.

“Didn't you once point out that I was wiser than you, Lieutenant?” he snapped.

“Normally, sir, but forgive my impertinence but Vice Admiral Mendez seems to get under your skin and cause you to sometimes have poor judgment.”

“Are you questioning my judgment?” he growled.

Of course I was but I couldn't say that, and while I was trying to formulate an appropriate answer he snatched up the phone. It was pure instinct that had me reaching for it, and I think, pure instinct on his part to shove me back. But an instant later he grabbed me when I would have fallen back across a chair, and then I was against his chest, and suddenly his arms were very strong around me.

Then his lips were very strong on mine!

I was astonished, to say the least, and totally flummoxed. I did nothing as his lips crushed mine, as his arms crushed me, as his tongue started to slide through my partly open lips. It must have lasted only about three seconds, then he jerked free so quickly I actually fell. I caught myself on the chair, though, as he seemed to briefly shudder before getting a grip on himself.

“I apologize unreservedly for my behavior, Lieutenant Andrews,” he said in a strangled voice.

I just stared at him, still stunned, my mind spinning.

“I will, of course, file a report with the Adjutant General in the morning so that the proper disciplinary procedures can be instigated against me.

His face was graven in stone, and his voice was back to that cold, emotionless tone he used when he was tightly controlling himself. I recognized that now.

“That would be... that bad judgment we were discussing... sir,” I said finally.

“You're correct. My judgment was extremely poor and I again apologize. I'm sure that...”

“No, no. I mean contacting the A.G. That would be poor judgment, stupid actually.”

“Lieutenant – .”

“General, you and I both know there are things the military doesn't want to hear about and I'm betting this is one of them.”

“That may well be but – .”

“And I don't think it's exactly smart for you to throw away your career because you got horny one moment.”

My heart was pounding and I was still wildly flustered.

“Horny?” he demanded, eyes tightening.

“Well, because you lost control then.”

“A general without self-control is of little use to anyone,” he snapped.

“Maybe you ought to be flogged then,” I said sarcastically.

“You find this amusing, Lieutenant?!” he demanded.

“Only your interest in destroying your career over this, sir. That would be idiotic. And I'm not that horrified that I need you to tie yourself to a post before the firing squad because you kissed me. Not that it was much of a kiss,” I said.

Why did I add that last part? I was startled as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Partly it was true, or at least, I was so startled and it had been so rough, well, so partly it was true. But I just... felt an instinctive need to prick his balloon of self-importance. If I'd thought about it, though, I would never have said something like that. You just didn't talk to generals that way!

He glowered. “Lieutenant, you appear to not understand the severity of this incident,” he said, tight lipped.

I did, but on the other hand, my mind was still spinning, and so my mouth was running away with me. I felt guilty, wondering if I had provoked this by my dumb behavior of almost flaunting myself to see if I could get a reaction. This certainly answered my question about whether he was feeling the kind of sexual tension I was! There was more to the buzzing in my head than guilt, though.

“It's not severe because it didn't happen,” I said. “And I'm sure if it did you'd be a better kisser.”

“Don't be impertinent!”

“Well, don't bruise a girl's lips next time.”

“I apologized for that,” he said stiffly.

“Very well. I guess you don't really know any better.”

“Don't taunt me, Lieutenant,” he growled, eyes narrowing.

“I'm sorry, general. I've only seen the one example of your kissing and since it was so sub-optimal I can't help judge your abilities on that basis,” I said, using his own droll humor.

Yes, I was taunting him! I didn't even know why, really! I mean, I heard the words coming out of my mouth and was shocked by them. I wasn't sure what the hell I was doing except... except I knew that if I just said forget it and we went our separate ways he would insist on my leaving the base – or him doing so. I knew him well enough to know he'd decide we could no longer work together, and would do the 'responsible' thing.

And I didn't want the responsible thing done! Which was quite bizarre for me, but then, as I said, I wasn't exactly thinking straight. Maybe that was because my pulse was racing and my heart was pounding and the blood was rushing through my system so quickly you'd think I was running a marathon. And maybe it was because of the hard, tight, unfamiliar sensation down low in my abdomen.

He grabbed my arm and jerked me forward, his face a cold mask.

“I am not in the mood for your – .”

I kissed him. I didn't crush his lips with mine. And my kiss was almost as impulsive, and certainly more desperate than his. I grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled myself against his body, and kissed him – hard. I let my lips slide against his, I let my tongue ease out, and I held on desperately when his initial instinct was to shove me back. I felt a desperate fear that he would shove me back and then banish me to some other country, and then a desperate relief when his hands stopped pushing me and pulled me instead.

We stood there, lips locked, kissing, as the clock on the wall ticked. His big hands were gripping my upper arms. My hands were gripping the front of his uniform blouse. I was on the balls of my feet, and we were kissing. The kiss was shifting, changing, as the seconds ticked by. His lips moved more, his tongue began to tentatively move against mine. He began to kiss harder.

The clock ticked away... five seconds... ten... thirty. His hands were iron bands around my upper arms, and only gradually loosened. But not by much. He drew back suddenly, turned, and lifted me as he turned, lifted me just by that tight grip on my upper arms, turned and pushed me so I felt the edge of his desk pushing into the backs of my legs.

Then I was sitting on the desk and he pushed in closer again. His hands released my arms and slid down my back as our lips connected again.  My knees were spread wide around him as he leaned into me, and I was exquisitely aware of that, aware of his powerful, masculine bulk there in my arms, there between my legs.

I could feel the hot thrum of excitement in my groin, and the way my nipples were tingling and hardening within the cups of my bra as his tongue slid through my mouth. Oh I knew this was dumb, all right. My mind was fluttering like a bird in a cage, not only with the wild uncertainty of where this would lead, not only with the rising sense of heat that was making my entire body throb, but with the surefire knowledge that this was against the rules and that I needed to stop it. Now!

But I didn't, and instead raised my freed arms, my hands sliding up his chest and over those broad shoulders. The clock continued to tick as I sat there, and our lips moved together with an almost unrestrained passion. His lips were pressing mine back hard, forcing them open so that his tongue could invade, could dart in and caress my own.

The tension within me suddenly took a sharp uptick, a shock sliding through my chest and belly as one of his hands slid around my ribs and then cupped my breast! I let out a helpless gasp of pleasure, though as with the kiss, he was rough, wild, passionate, almost to the point it hurt.

He unbuttoned the front of my blouse so quickly I was hardly aware of what he was up to, then jerked the blouse open and back over my shoulders. I gasped as I felt his hand in my hair, felt my head jerked up and back so that my back arched. Then his hand other hand squeezed my breast hard for a moment before tugging my bra cup down under my breast.

I moaned as his teeth dug into the soft flesh of my breast, his mouth enveloping the rigid, tingling nipple. A moment later he started sucking harshly, rhythmically. I felt his hands jerk down, then felt the front of my trousers opening.

“S-Sir!” I gasped, my mind reeling.

How far did I want this to go!? I had no idea! I was not used to being this out of control!

But suddenly he jerked back from me, and my upper body half fell back across the desk. At the same time he gripped the waistband of my uniform trousers and jerked them powerfully. I felt them forced under my buttocks, and was thrown backwards further as he ripped them down my legs, raising my legs up as he did, then tearing them off – popping off my shoes in the process!

“Sir!” I squealed.

I was flat on my back, though, on his desk, and he had my legs in his hands, jerking them apart as he dropped to his knees. Then his mouth was over my pussy, his lips closing on my flesh through the thin cotton of my panties. My hands fluttered and he grabbed them, slamming them down against the desk on either side of my body. That put his forearms on my thighs, pinning them against the edge of the desk as he began to lick and suck through the cotton.

“Oh! Oh don't!” I gasped at the sudden rush of sensation and heat.

“Don't?” he asked coolly, quietly.

He stood up, now apparently fully in control of himself. I started to sit up and he gripped my arms, jerking me up and forward into a seated position. But in the next instant he shoved the open shirt back down my arms, then reached around me and undid my bra, snapping it off and forward. My arms started to go to cover my breasts but he caught them again, jerking me up and forward as he leaned into me.

“Don't what, Andrews?” he growled.

“I-I... I don't know!” I squeaked, wide eyed.

“You don't know?”

He released my arms and then caught my hard nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. I gasped as he squeezed tightly, and they began to ache and burn.

“Oh! Oh please!” I gasped.

He eased his grip but didn't remove his fingers, tugging, stretching my nipples

“Put your hands down at your sides,” he growled.

It was an order, and I was used to obeying orders, and so I did, though I trembled, and fought to steady my ragged breathing.

“You've been quite impertinent, Andrews,” he said, squeezing his fingers and thumbs a little harder together.

I gasped again as my nipples burned, but a strange dark heat was spreading down into my groin and my heart was thumping in my chest. He eased the pressure, rolling my nipples between the pads of his thumbs and forefingers, then increased it again, so that I gasped once more as he stretched them out towards him, in effect, pulling me off the desk, then guiding me down onto my knees before him.

I couldn't help noticing how the front of his uniform trousers were bulging, and felt a sense of wild unreality, that I should be kneeling here in just my panties in his office! He released my nipples, and transferred his grip to my hair, then pulled my face in against that bulging groin, though not roughly. He ground my face against him, and when my hands rose he barked at me to drop them once more.

I rolled my eyes up at him as he eased me back and saw a ferocious hunger in his eyes that both aroused and frightened me. He held my hair in his fist, as his other hand undid his belt and pulled it free of his pants loops. Then he slid it around my neck and pulled the loop closed. I gurgled briefly as the belt went tight around my throat, but then it eased as he again ordered me to drop my arms to my sides.

My breathing was becoming more ragged, more shallow, as he guided me in against him. He undid the top button of his trousers, then guided my mouth to the top of the zipper.

“Take the zipper in your teeth, Andrews, and pull it down,” he growled.

A wild thrill ran through me, for this was so incredible, so unbelievable, and my body was already crackling with sexual energy and hunger. I obeyed him, however, arms at my sides, fingers quivering, as I managed to get his zipper between my teeth and tug it down. His trousers opened and then slid down to his thighs, then his ankles.

Beneath, his military issue boxers did little to hide the size or thickness of his erection as it pushed out eagerly against the loose cotton. He pulled me forward again, rubbing my face, my mouth up and own and from side to side against him. I felt the length of him against my lips and felt another wild thrill run up through my belly, and down into my groin!

He released my hair though held onto the belt which was looped around my throat.

“Now the pants, Andrews. Take them in your teeth and pull them down,” he ordered in a strangely calm voice.

Pulse racing, I leaned in, then slid down, grasping the loose material near the bottom, pulling down, tugging, forcing the tight elastic around his hips to slide downward, then down further. The boxers slid lower, and his cock sprang up like a weapon. It was thick and dark and hard and pointing slightly upward. Another shock ran through me, but this time I felt it ripple across my clit with a sensation that almost made me climax!

Oh my God! He was big! And he was gorgeous! His cock was... I don't know. It was circumcised, and had a slightly darker head, with the veins thick along the sides. His pubic hair was very neatly trimmed, and perhaps that simply helped make his cock seem larger, but it did seem BIG! I felt daunted for a moment, wondering if I could do it justice. My hands rose again and he tugged on the belt so that it tightened around my neck.

“No hands, Andrews,” he ordered. “Show some discipline.”

I moaned weakly as he pulled me in against him. I licked at his cock, near the top, then along the shaft, then pushed my mouth in towards the base, almost by instinct, without thought, taking one of his balls into my mouth and sucking on it as the long, thick length of his shaft pressed against my face.

I licked and sucked on the other one, then licked my way up the shaft, using little butterfly flicks with my tongue. His cock dropped forward as my face moved back and I widened my lips and slid them over the head, amazed at how thick it felt in my mouth! I moaned around it, rolling my eyes up at him as I sucked lightly, forcing my lips further down the shaft.

I felt another rippling shock. Oh my God! This was really happening!!

I felt the belt tighten around my throat as I eased back, and moved forward once more, sucking lightly, licking along the bottom of his shaft, letting my lips moisten the skin with my saliva as more and more of him slid across my tongue. That made his shaft more slick and slippery and the tactile sense of touch as it slid back and forth between my lips and over my tongue was incredibly erotic!

He pushed into me as he pulled on the belt, and the spongy, helmet head of his cock pushed deep into the back of my mouth, threatening to go down my throat. I felt a fluttering moment of panic, and my hands started to rise to push back, but he eased the pull on the belt, and instead his other hand gripped my hair near the top of my head and bent my head up and back so that his cock slid back hard over my lower lip, bending a little until it came free.

His eyes were intent and intense as he sat down, kicked off his trousers and then pulled me forward by the belt. I thought he was going to pull my face into his groin again but the belt pulled me up across his left leg, and then his right hand reached down, gripping my hip, and lifted me up across his lap, belly down.

I felt his open hand on my back, caressing my soft skin, felt it sliding downward and then stroking and kneading my buttocks.

A sharp slap made me yelp and gasp.

A moment later his fingers traced the line of my thong, up and down between my buttocks, then under to run along my pussy and over my swollen clitoris. He rubbed and squeezed me lightly, then slid up and I felt his fingers hook in under the waistband and then – pull.

I groaned as I felt the pressure of the cotton squeeze up against my throbbing pussy, groaned and gasped as it increased, and reached back instinctively to fend him off.

He released my thong and I felt him gripping my slender wrists, drawing them together, then pushing them upward along my spine, up high between my shoulder blades. He took the length of belt which he'd been using almost as a leash and wrapped it around my joined wrists. I don't know how he managed to fasten it together, but he did, leaving my wrists bound up high.

Another shock rippled through me, a shock of heat, of dark hunger, of wild sexual abandon, tinged with a little fear and anxiety.

Crack!

His hand slapped down against my bottom, and my hips bucked. Then he grasped the thong and pulled again, the pressure squeezing gradually harder on my pussy until I gasped and moaned and started to wiggle and writhe to try and ease it.

Crack!

His hand struck my bottom again, but that was okay, because he'd let go of the thong, at least, and the pressure eased, leaving my burning, throbbing pussy filled with a strange sense of being swollen and exquisitely sensitive.

My head and shoulders were hanging over his hip on the left, and so I could see nothing. I could only feel his hands caressing my body, stroking along my bottom, then up along my hip and ribs to cup and grope my breast.

Crack!

His hand came down on my bottom again, then he pulled on the thong so that it squeezed up hard into my pussy, almost lifting me off his lap!

A moment later he released it then peeled my thong down around my thighs, baring me entirely. Another rippling shockwave of sexual hunger and electricity ran down my spine, through my belly and into my pussy. I almost imagined him staring down at me, my pussy and bottom so neatly framed before him. I felt one of his hands on my inner thigh, then his fingers traced the line of my sex.

“Hmm, I'm glad to see you keeping yourself so neatly trimmed, Andrews,” he said. “A clean desk bespeaks a clean mind, they say.”

Crack! His hand struck my bare bottom again, and I yelped and my bottom jerked.

His fingers caressed me, sliding up and down my pussy, then under to rub against my clit. I felt something thicker than a finger – his thumb – pushing into me. I slid in easily, for I was that wet, and I groaned as he drove it in all the way then pressed downward as his other fingers pressed up against my clit.

Crack! His hand slapped down against my bottom more sharply than before, and I yelped and my legs kicked feebly.

My head was spinning, and I had no idea what he was going to do next. All I could do was follow the sensations as they raced through me like quicksilver, my nervous system straining, my breath ragged, my pulse racing as I squirmed and twisted and moaned and yelped at the contradictory sensations.

He had his thumb buried in my pussy as his fingers rubbed continuously against my clit. And he was sort of squeezing his thumb in against his fingers, if you get my meaning, redoubling the sensations.

Crack!

Every time his hand slapped down across my bottom it produced a sudden sharp stinging pain followed by a throbbing heat.

And he seemed to be slapping harder each time!

My wrists jerked against the belt, which pulled the loop against my throat. I felt a wild, dark sense of disbelief that he had tied me up! My wrists kept pulling against the belt, and the tight clasp of the belt was doing strange things to my mind. I'd never really been tied up before, nor ever really been involved in anything you might describe as 'kinky'. So perhaps I was more shocked, more electrified, really, by the wild thrill of it all.

But really, most of my attention was focused on my pussy, which was hot and getting hotter. I also felt dripping wet, and blushed at that, though since my entire upper body was flushed it was hardly noticeable. He was squeezing my clit in between his thumb and fingers as he rubbed the outer fingers against it. His left hand roughly cupped and squeezed my right breast, then drew back.

Crack!

I gasped, but then gasped again.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

I started to wriggle and twist more desperately as his hand slapped down against me repeatedly. The stinging blows increased as the heat built up in my skin and flesh, and my wrists pulled more desperately against the belt.

He stopped, leaving my bottom throbbing with heat. His hand ran up my back and then around to cup and squeeze my breast again. His other continued rubbing at my clit, the thumb now pumping in and out.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

“Oh!” I gasped. “S-Sir!”

The blows were steady, deliberate, his big hand cracking sharply down against my upturned and helpless buttocks again and again.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack

“Please!” I gasped, my bottom flaming.

He abruptly shifted his grip entirely, and I gasped as I was rolled over onto my back. He raised my head and shoulders up, propping me into a semi-sitted position. Then grasped my hair and jerked my head back. I cried out weakly as his mouth descended to one of my breasts and he began to suck and chew on its center, alternately gentle and then rough. His teeth nipped lightly as his tongue swirled and circled and stroked hungrily across my rigid pink nipples

At the same time his right hand was between my legs. Two, then three fingers pushed into my overheated pussy as his thumb stroked rapidly across my swollen clitoris. My pussy felt stretched out by the three big fingers, and my body was thrilling to the sucking and chewing he was doing at my breast.

It was odd, but as good as the tongue felt, he was also kind of grinding his teeth against my stiff nipple, and while it hurt it... it hurt so good! The sharp, sparkly little stings just made me want to scream!

My hips began to grind, to buck, as the sexual heat grew into a fever which enveloped my body. My mind was swimming in a steaming, bubbling cauldron of heat and I could do nothing but roll back my eyes as I felt myself starting to tremble and shake.

Then, suddenly, he rolled me over onto my belly again.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

I gasped and jerked as my bottom stung, but then he pushed me off onto the floor, gripping my hair once more and drawing my face in against his erection.

His cock filled my mouth, sliding over my tongue as I rolled my glazed eyes upward, and then gurgled as my eyes were yanked back to his shaft. The head was deep in the back of my mouth, and then suddenly, it was even further. My eyes bulged as his cock slid into my throat, slick and hard and silky as I began to gag.

“Swallow, Andrews, Swallow. That's an order,” he said.

I swallowed, for want of anything better to do, and he pulled forward on my hair so that the thick shaft began to follow the head right down my throat! It was so quick, and my mind so – distracted, that I didn't really have time to panic until it was already done and I found my mouth pressed tightly against his groin.

His cock filled my throat, and my wide eyes stared up the length of his body, then at his belly, with my lips pressed against it, filled with disbelief.

“I shall expect this service every morning from you now, Andrews,” he said calmly, holding me in place as my head pounded and my chest began to burn.

“So you had best master yourself and your fears.”

He eased up, and my incipient panic began to lessen as he let my lips slide back up his slick shaft, and then off. I gulped in air, gasping for breath as saliva dripped off my lower lip.

He pulled me forward by the hair again. Manhandled would be the appropriate term, and as I gulped in air I found myself bent across his lap once again.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

I gasped and moaned and sucked in deep breaths of air as he slapped his hand down across my sore, burning bottom. Then he jerked me back again, and I was staring at his cock from my knees as it pushed against my mouth.

My scalp ached from the way he kept pulling on my hair, and my bottom throbbed hotly even as his cock slid across my tongue. But my pussy felt swollen, burning in a far different way from my buttocks, and with a heat which extended far below the surface and up into my belly, chest and mind.

Again he pushed himself into my throat while pulling on my hair. My hands jerked feebly against the belt as I was forced all the way down to the base, my throat aching, my mind burning with shock, and no small delight, either, that I had mastered, or at least, that I had become an initiate of such a thing as deep throating a man's cock.

I guess, somewhat in my innocence, I had dismissed that sort of thing as something only prostitutes and porn stars really knew how to do. And I, of course was very, very far from either, not being particularly skilful in the area of sex.

But Laird was evidently determined to remedy that.

I became light-headed from lack of air before he drew back. Then he left the front of his shaft in my mouth for me to suck and work my tongue against while he reached down to fondle my breasts and pinch my aching nipples.

He drew me back by the hair, my scalp aching again, then pulled me forward across his lap once more. His hand kneaded and massaged my pink buttocks, then:

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

I moaned and twisted even as his other hand slid down to rub at my clit. As before, his thumb pushed up into my overheated pussy as his fingers rubbed against my clit. I felt the heat burning inside and out as my hips began to grind and buck back against him. The orgasm rose with a terrible sense of force and I felt myself cry out as it swept over me.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Even as the orgasm tore though my body, even as his fingers rubbed harshly against my clit, and his thumb curled up against it from within me, his other hand slapped down against my bottom with sharp, fast slaps which produced sharp bursts of stinging sensation within me. Somehow, those little eruptions of sharp sensation only served to drive the power and intensity of the orgasm higher, and I writhed and thrashed, my head jerking wildly as my eyes rolled back.

The orgasm was literally of stunning intensity, and it felt like every nerve ending in my body was spasming and snapping, as though I were engulfed in a crackling electrical overload of a sexual firestorm. And then it faded, leaving me limp, gasping for breath, dazed, eyes glazed, jaw slack as I lay across his lap, quite literally drooling onto the carpet below.