The phone rang late at night. Kate, my daughter in Brisbane had been hospitalised for a few days. I recognised the caller's voice and felt a sense of shame at my response. Instinctively my arm folded to cover my hardening nipples and I turned my back so that Alf didn't see.
Every time my husband made love to me, since my initial meeting with Steve my mind had been elsewhere, unable to resist the fantasy that I was having sex with Steve rather than him. I grew wet, blushing and stumbling my words, shaking like a leaf, from the shock of hearing Steve's voice again. If Alf noticed the telltale changes in my body? He just couldn't! I was completely naked and so unable to disguise my excited state. My confidence quickly disintegrated.
"What?--How?---Will she be alright?" I was almost incoherent as I tried to talk rationally while trying to hide my feelings for him.
"Nothing for you to worry about." Steve chuckled. "Can I speak to Alf for a moment, perhaps?" He suggested in a caring tone.
I composed myself while Alf took the call for me, too unsettled to speak to Steve again. Although my only daughter's medical condition didn't appear urgent, she had still been admitted to hospital for a minor gynaecological procedure, according to what Alf told me after he put the phone down. He urged me to take a few days break away, to check on Kate and put my mind at rest, even though he wasn't able to come with me on such short notice. I'd heard him accept Steve's offer of accommodation so at that point, I didn't dare to make other plans. Alf would suspect that something was wrong, still having no idea that Steve was attracted to me. I wasn't completely sure about him myself. The fact remained that I was about to stay with Steve for a few days as his guest and be on my own at their house with him. Could I trust myself? Recent evidence suggested otherwise but of course I wanted to go and stay with him while Kate was in hospital.
It all happened in such a rush. Between packing a small overnight bag and organising holiday finances, I barely slept a wink. I was bleary eyed when I farewelled my husband next morning.
"Let me know if you need me?" Alf said at the check-in. "I can see that you're worried about Kate. Steve said that they have a spare double bedroom at his house. I'll ring up to let him know your flight number and have him meet you at the airport."
Alf bid me farewell at the departure area, allowing me time to think about the reason I had really decided to go. I recalled our initial meeting with Steve, just a few short weeks ago;
*******************************
The moment I saw Steve I had the disturbing sense that I had met him before. His piercing blue eyes and his well tanned, ruggedly handsome features commanded attention right from the moment he walked through our front door. I couldn't tear my eyes from him. Kate's new partner brought to mind my first husband, a well equipped lover with a superb body. When his eyes met mine, I noted more than a casual interest in his expression. Steve was subdued at first, eying me over with sexual interest, obvious to me. Kate started off introductions in her bubbly infectious manner.
"This is my mum, Steve.----Mrs Atkins, these days." She blushed as I smiled and swiftly corrected her.
"Just call me Tricia, Steve."
He approached me with arms outstretched in total silence, confidently and smug with a hint of a cheeky grin on his face, so much like the way I'd met Ken, my first husband.
"Haven't I seen you around somewhere before?" I prompted him. 'Confounded sense of deja vu!' I thought. The last time I saw Kate in Brisbane, six months ago, she had been flatting with two young girls. No mention of any boyfriends, at that time. Steve replied, tongue in cheek, with an impish expression on his face, rolling his eyes as he spoke to me.
"I'm sure that I would have remembered meeting YOU, if I had." It sounded like a pick up line, the way I took it. His eyes undressed me, turning my complexion pink. Although his flippant remark seemed amusing to the others in the room it was full of innuendo. I tried to curtail a mutual attraction by reaching out to shake his hand.
A tingle of desire touched my body and my heart fluttered, none the less, the moment my flesh touched in greeting. I gazed into his eyes. What was the matter with me? This man was younger than I was. Now 43, I put him in his late twenties. Besides, he was my daughter's regular boyfriend, soon to be my son-in-law judging by the letters I had been receiving lately. Although first contact was strict social etiquette, to be expected, Steve held onto my hand for longer than necessary.
**********************************
After getting comfortable,[More about that later.] I tried to get to sleep on the plane. Closing my eyes, but thinking about Steve, I just couldn't get him out of my mind as I napped. While awake I convinced myself that I had to be mistaken. Steve had been hoping to complement his future mother-in law at our last meeting, surely? None the less I made sure that I was never alone with him for the rest of his stay.
Luckily, Alf befriended Steve and monopolised his short time with us. Maybe it was just my over-active imagination at work? It wasn't until the plane was descending over the coral sea, lining up it's approach to Eagle Farm airport, that my stomach knotted up with nerves. I was trembling, despite my calm exterior. I loved flying and had travelled alone before. There was only one explanation when I thought about it. 'What made me dispose of those panties?' 'Do I want to get caught?'
Dressed in one of my classiest summer business outfits, I knew Steve was meeting me at the airport. Although I hadn't addressed the issue, my moral values altered dramatically since the time I first met him. Remembering past events, my reckless need originated from then;
After Steve's first visit, actually the same night they left, I urged Alf to try a few different sexual positions and techniques. With my normal reservation on hold I begged him to share any hidden desires that he might have, with me. Guilt played a part in my impulsive need to improve the sexual side of my relationship with my husband.
"Go on, Alf. You must have a few unfulfilled fantasies stored away. You never know? I might be happy to go along with them. We're getting older and we really should be able to talk about these things at our age." I remembered rationalising with him.
Alf smiled and whispered in my ear. My eyes widened as he spoke but I listened without saying a word. His fantasy world took me by surprise because Alf had always been so enigmatic in the past. If he had those kind of fetishes all along, I would never have guessed. Still, in the spirit of livening up our marriage, I couldn't see much harm in it.
"It's only play acting. You can always refuse." Alf explained anxiously. "You did ask, Tricia!" He emphasised, his face reddening defensively, waiting. "Well, what do you think?"