personal progress & a question of preference

Well, rman, Girl Next Door, and Belle suggested that I keep you updated...and since I'm pretty new to this, I thought it might help to see what you all have to say about my progress too...

When you last heard from me, I was asking for advice on self-denial. I'm able to make myself come without touching myself at all, so making the decision to take my hands away was never enough...I needed to know how to take better control of my body. After working on all of your suggestions, I've been able to identify exactly what my body does when I come. As I get closer to orgasm, I spread my legs, lean my head back, arch my back, rhythmically tense and relax my stomach to rock my hips, hold my breath, and of course feel my pussy clenching as if warning me that the orgasm is coming. When I actually do come, I hold my breath before letting it out in a whimper, throw my head back before letting it fall forward, keep my stomach tensed, and bend my legs and pull them closer to my body...and depending on my technique and position, I either spread them wider or clamp them shut when I come, and I haven't quite figure out what causes the difference in reactions. I've found that disrupting these actions can hold off orgasm, although some actions work better than others. I've had the most success with straightening my legs rather than letting myself pull them up, and breathing slow and deep rather than holding my breath...but it seems that even if I disrupt all my usual rhythms and don't touch myself at all, I can still make myself come just by continuing to tense my stomach and allowing my pussy to clench...and since it's the least voluntary of all these actions, it's also the hardest to stop. I needed a solution.

So...I'm single right now (hence the interest in self-denial) but I have exes that I "play" with on a regular basis. Last night I asked an observant ex-girlfriend to come over and help me out. I told her everything I had figured out by following your advice, and asked her for ideas. She made me come once, then had me lay down on the floor and try to come again without touching myself. She watched carefully, and when I was very close she told me to stop moving altogether, which was almost impossible. At that point my pussy was throbbing and just beginning to clench, and it was so hard to relax my stomach and stop bucking my hips when I was so close...so my ex got down on the floor with me and held me still. She even put her hands on my stomach and made me concentrate on my stomach muscles and think about keeping them still, while breathing deep and slow. I was finally able to calm myself down, and she rewarded me by stroking my clit till I came. Once I had sufficiently recovered from that, she said she had an idea, and told me to do sit-ups until I couldn't do anymore. I followed her orders, and when I was done she told me to try again to come without touching myself. I couldn't! No matter how hard I tried...I just didn't have the strength left in the muscles in my stomach. Of course, it was also a bit harder to come when she finally helped me out, but it felt wonderful to try and try and not be able to put myself over the edge. That's never happened to me before. Whenever I've played with denial, I've always known in the back of my mind that I could eventually make myself come no matter what...whether I was tied up, or left without anything to play with, or whatever. So it was very nice to finally experience true denial and really be on the edge.

Now, wondering a bit about preference...

As I said, I'm pretty new to denial. I had played with teasing in the past, and I had always loved holding off orgasm when my partner and I tried to come simultaneously (I'm very sensitive, so I'm almost always the first to come). I found that I loved saying "please, please, can I come yet?" and becoming increasingly desperate to let it happen, and fighting for control over myself...it was almost painful, but in a wonderful way. And personally, I'm not interested in serious D/S play or in longterm orgasm denial...I just liked being challenged to reach my orgasm a certain way or after a certain time, and that requires actually reaching an orgasm. :) Anyway, I thought I was the only one, till I stumbled upon the old Yahoo group, and finally found my way here. And I've found there are as many preferences for orgasm denial as their are people in the group!

So I'm wondering, what is it that you love about orgasm denial? (For example, for me it's being challenged, begging, and of course the physical feeling of being so hot and so wet and so tight that I think it can't possibly get any worse, but it does.) And do you all prefer long-term denial, or are any of you into short-term stuff like me?

Okay, all my posts won't be as long as this! Lol. Thanks for reading.