To the reader: This series of stories is an experiment, an attempt to put in writing a game that I play with my lover. I tell her stories in bed, whisper to her, about the things that we could do, if we were the type of people to actually do them. Things like threesomes and bondage and public sex. Dangerous things, erotic things, impossible things. I set the situation, tell her the story, and we use it to fire our imaginations and enflame our desires. We believe that great sex is 90% mental. And so, in sharing these stories, I hope they work the same way for you.
SETTING THE STAGE. WHO WE ARE. WHY WE'RE HERE.
I believe that both of us, you and I, are not sure whether to take this thing we have together to the next level. We are both married, with children, and not so naΓ―ve as to think that our individual spouses would so easily forgive any indiscretions we may commit with each other. And we treasure our marriages. I would not ask you to divorce your husband to marry me, nor would I expect you to do the same. The dangers of our getting together, under the sheets, making love, are immediate and brutal. We could, with one act, destroy two families, hurt our spouses deeply, and throw our children's lives into chaos. We are not naΓ―ve, you and I. We are fully cognizant of the dangerous waters in which we swim.
And yet... And yet we are drawn together, in a way that's hard to describe. It's as if there's an inexorable force binding us together. As if we're in two orbits, unable to pull away, yet unable to meet up, for fear of a catastrophic, yet intensely fulfilling collision. We have a history, you and I. Not just in the years we've known each other in this world, but in the metaphysical one as well. We've both had the dreams, of being together in past lives, of being a couple defined by passion and intellect and undying love. How can two people have exactly the same dream, if there is not a connection that defies rational explanation? Our friends would laugh at the idea. Our acquaintances would mock. And our spouses would wonder. The binding is there. Else why would our paths cross again and again?
We have stood on the precipice a long, long while. Balanced ourselves between friendship and true intimacy. Heightened the anticipation. Measured with trepidation the long, awful fall that could result. Wondered whether, in jumping forward, we would be giving up a long-lasting friendship. To many people, we are already shameful, cheating adulterers. We have shared intimate details. Stolen kisses here and there. Made plans, pretended to be single, run away for afternoon excursions.
Yet never have we shared of each other in the way of lovers.
Never have I felt you tremble under my touch.
Never have I felt the beat of your heart against mine.
Though it consumes us, it may never be. But what may be, may be this...
THE STORY I WHISPER TO HER:
It's a Tuesday. A Tuesday like any other Tuesday. I pick you up for lunch at your office and we speak of work things as I drive. As we pass our usual restaurant, you seem surprised, but only just a little. I've done that before. Our drive takes us past the outskirts of town, past the point where anyone might know us. When I pull into the business hotel parking lot, you're about to protest, or ask a question. But I've anticipated that. "Relax," I say. "I have a plan. And it's not what you think at all."
Somehow, for some reason, you trust me. Perhaps it's because you know that I live by the rule that No means No. So you'll always have that to fall back on. But I can tell that your curiosity has been piqued.
We enter the hotel through the back. No need to walk you past the front desk. The room card is in my pocket. I have a speech prepared in case you refuse to go into the room. But maybe you're wondering to see how far I'll go. Or maybe you're happy to see that I'm finally taking charge. Or maybe you just don't know what to do. Whatever the case, you step inside.
It's your typical business class hotel room. Comfortable queen size bed. A desk. TV. Charging station. Coffee maker. Heavy drapes, pulled tight. Air conditioning on too high. Chilly. I can't help myself, though I know I should. I look to see if your nipples are poking out in the cold. They do that. We've joked about it. You even have a word for it. They are. You shiver. I leave you there in the doorway and go to adjust the thermostat.
You immediately see that I've prepared the room with a bottle of our favorite wine and two real wine glasses. You uncork it and pour while I adjust the drapes so the room is dimly lit with sunlight. Cozy. Intimate. We toast like we usually do and gulp down big swallows of wine. You're nervous about what I intend. I'm nervous about what you'll think.
"What's your plan?" you ask, your eyes looking anywhere but the bed. I understand. Trust only goes so far. Especially given the signals I've been sending out the last few months. I don't blame you. Neither wants to hurt the other. And this scenario is so bizarre. Not what you were expecting at all.
"My plan," I say, "is very simple. Extremely simple. I want to touch you. Feel your skin on my skin. Taste the pulse in your neck. Lie with you atop me, beside me, underneath me, so we can feel what it would be like if our lives weren't like they are. My plan is to enjoy your body without taking that last and final step. To go to the very edge with you. To feel you wrapped around me. Not all the way. Not inside you. But to the edge. To the point where it can still be our secret. Where nobody needs to know. Where nobody gets hurt by our actions."
You understand this. I know you will because as much as I fear that you don't feel about me the way I do about you, I feel my fears are probably groundless. We're not soul mates, you and I. Not destined to be married in this lifetime. But we do have that binding. We were together in a past life, and will be in a future life, but for now we have to make do with touching and caressing and anything but that. And to be honest, if we never get anywhere but where we are now, I won't be all that upset. I won't destroy our lives for seven minutes of pleasure. But there is something we can have if we follow this plan.
And so you stand before me as I sit on the bed, your empty wine glass on the desk and your hands at your sides. You want to see what happens next. You want to be led. You like that. I know you.
Starting at the bottom I unbutton your blouse, releasing the silky material. Then watch as you shrug it off your shoulders and it flutters to the floor. I unclasp your slacks and you look at me with a question on your lips, but it goes unspoken as they drop to the ground.