Laura's Expanding Horizons

They both woke up without having resolved the doubts and discordant thoughts that had filled their night. It had been a struggle for them to fall asleep, and now they were there, tired and exhausted from that battle with themselves.

Each of them had finally resolved to let the other decide what to do, but none had advertised it to the other. Thus, no one would have taken any initiative, just accepting everything would proceed according to the day before plans. The events had taken on a life of their own: Laura would have finally gone to her appointment with Marco.

Having left the decision to her husband, who had not intruded to stop her, she had acknowledged he was still convinced to let her go. Giulio, on his part, had waited for her decision. He was too uncertain to say a word on the unfolding events. When he had seen her getting ready to go to the wellness centre, had understood her decision had been taken. He had seen her wrap herself in a white bathrobe, covering with that garment a body otherwise dressed only in the smallest costume she had ever worn. Each one had waited for the other's move, and in the end, they had chosen what they both most intimately desired, reassured by the claim to have undergone a not their own decision.

As Laura entered the massage area was greeted by the open and always vaguely winking smile of the girl she had met the day before. "Laura, welcome back! Go, Marco is waiting for you. You are lucky, this morning we have no other bookings, so you will have Marco all to yourself as long as you want..."

Not at all reassured by that perspective, she went to the door indicated by the girl, with a hesitation she was trying in vain to hide.

Marco was turning his back on her, intent on placing some oil bottles on a shelf. This gave her the chance to see the room where she would enjoy, she hoped, a relaxing and refreshing massage. The room was small, lightened by a ribbon of lights running all around the walls, hidden in a crawl space that leaked only a light soothing beam. The dominant colour was a full and enveloping orange, taken up in the lacquered wooden shelves, also orange, scattered along the walls and occupied by candles, bottles of oils and essences, statuettes of oriental craftsmanship, some of which vaguely alluding to sexual symbols and acts.

Laura cleared her voice to announce her presence, but Marco simply invited her to enter, without even looking at her. Her disappointment at that cold reception, tough, lasted only a few seconds. The man in front of her completed the arrangement he was attending to and turned towards her. With a smile that disarmed her, he looked into her eyes:

"Sorry, Laura, I had to finish this job, but now I am at your disposal for as long as we have and, let me say, it will be a great pleasure for me to spend this time with you."

"Damn! But why does this masseur have to be so charming? And why does he always seem to know what I want to hear from him?", Laura thought, fearing that her resolve to keep intact her morality might suffer some irrecoverable blow.

Despite her conflicting thoughts, her legs proceeded by themselves. They led her so close to the masseur to make natural a kiss, instead of the more formal handshake. It was only a fleeting cheek contact, of course, but enough to immediately link the situation in that room to what had happened the day before. They were not two strangers meeting for the first time for any kind of professional service: a particular intimacy had already arisen between them, placing the massage that awaited them on a different level.

Marco had enough experience to understand that it was up to him to help the woman in front of him to overcome the unavoidable embarrassment of the situation.

"You can put your robe there", he told her, pointing to a coat rack on the wall near the front door. "Your bikini is beautiful and, if I am allowed to say it, it looks very nice on you. It would be a shame to ruin it with my oils and creams, they are difficult to clean from a fabric like that. You could have come in regular underwear, but we also have disposable paper underwear available if you prefer. Actually, if you ask me, the best choice, for those at their ease, is to be naked during a massage."

As he spoke to her, he helped her shed her bathrobe, without giving up playing with the laces of her costume, carelessly running his fingers over her shoulders.

"In our centres, unfortunately, massage is turning into an increasingly cold, almost hospital-like experience. Strange, for an activity involving the body in the most physical and direct way! If you trust me, I suggest starting the massage with your pretty little costume, and then, as soon as I need to get closer to the covered body parts, we will take it off. After all, yesterday we were naked together in the sauna and shower, so ..."

His reasoning made perfect sense, of course, but that "so", dropped there, disturbed and worried her.

"Your costume does not cover a lot anyway!", added Marco with an amused tone while making her lie prone on the bed, "but I can only approve the choice of the panties..."

Laura blushed for that appreciation, but it was undeniable she felt gratified. She decided to remain silent as if silence would somehow take her away from her raging predication.

Marco began with skilled hands to work on her neck and upper shoulders, continuing to speak in a calm and relaxed tone and low voice, just enough to be heard. Although that woman appearance was not comparable in beauty to the models he had worked with nor to any of the beautiful girls with whom he had had some affairs, he felt incredibly attracted to her. Marco found her quiet maturity so beautiful and fascinating. He did not know how far he could go with her, feeling that the respectability and normality she exuded concealed a discovery desire that he, perhaps, would be able to awaken.

In his conversation, therefore, nothing was left to chance. Everything he said pointed to drag Laura into the network of sensuality in which he hoped to capture her. He began telling her how he worked, when not engaged in the spa of that hotel. His activity took place in a centre where massages were very different, inspired by modern interpretations of oriental techniques and philosophies. They were massages that meant to develop complete sensorial experiences, really involving the whole body and keeping themselves away from the hypocrisy of the paths that, in the most common centres, claimed to provide physical well-being denying any form of sensuality. The massages he performed were carried out in the total nudity both of the operator and the client and, in that centre, the masseurs were male for female clients and vice versa.

He immediately clarified, to avoid any misunderstanding, that his activity had nothing to do with the disguised forms of prostitution people often reads about in the newspapers. The massages never involved any kind of contact with genital organs, nor included any "happy end."

They were, however, sexual experiences in the most proper sense. The bodies of both the massage giver and receiver met, abandoned to the pleasure of contact, merged into an intimacy regenerating both body and soul.

Laura confessed not to comprehend what this meant, but Marco asked her to wait, trusting that the meaning of those experiences would be more understandable at the end of the massage. He was careful to practice his activity differently from the other centre, starting from his nakedness, which he knew had to give up. Though he introduced, even there, some elements that allowed to understand, at least in part, how massages could be performed in the other so unusual atmosphere.

Laura began to understand what Marco meant when he, with fluid and precise movements, unhooked her bra and, almost without her noticing, lifted imperceptibly her body from the bed, just enough to remove it. From that moment on, his movements on her shoulders became a dance. He no longer limited himself to the contact of his hands, but used his arms, chest, breath and, it seemed to her on more than one occasion, even his tongue, which she felt as though he were tasting her. That so pervasive and engaging movement soon extended to her lower back until, without any prior perception, she felt the light and silky fabric of the costume slip along with her ankles, now permanently removed from his body, again handed over to total nakedness.

She felt confused, in some ways forced by that bold movement she had not been allowed to stop. At the same time, though, she was grateful for the responsibility the man had taken, deciding for her. She knew that now the whole back of her body was exposed to his sight and most intimate touch. He clearly knew how to play with her sensations, showing skills that worried and overwhelmed her.

She then let his movements continue on her softly abandoned body, flowing with increasing impudence from her shoulders to thighs and, inevitably, through the roundness of her buttocks. Laura felt more and more involved in that safe and intrusive contact, experiencing a form of relaxed excitement that gave her an entirely new sense of vitality and fulfilment. She could only compare these feelings to the intimacy she felt when her husband remained inside her after making love. That thought troubled her, giving her the impression of betraying her husband, the only one those feelings should have been reserved to. But, on the other hand, she could reassure herself that she was just having a massage, even in the singularity of the situation that had arisen between them.

Captured by those thoughts and feelings, Laura did not even realize to have, at some point, turned on herself to get on her back, responding to Marco's request. It was a further step towards abandoning all her restraints, a movement with which she exposed her breasts and pubis to the sight and hands of the masseur. As had turned, Laura had kept her eyes closed, but, a second after putting her shoulders on the bed, had realized how freely was offering herself to him. She had panicked and had to use all her determination to keep her arms stretched out at her sides, giving up using them to cover, defend herself, maintaining a glimmer of decency.

While not showing it, even Marco was surprised at the ease with which she responded at his requests. He would have expected that, while turning around, she would have covered her body with some towel and was ready to exercise all his patience to gradually convince her to get rid of it. And instead, thank god, she had performed it without delay. That woman, with her reserved impudence, amazed him more and more, attracting him as it had rarely happened to him.

Just as turning around, Laura had asked him what kind of people frequented the centre where so particular massages were offered, what they were looking for. Marco had immediately taken the opportunity to bring the discussion where it suited him. He had already said they were people of all kinds, women and men interested in oriental philosophies, married men searching for new emotions, couples who chose the services destined for them. And then he had thrown in, "You cannot know how many wives receive our services as a gift from their husbands. Often the husbands, while booking, ask us to be allowed to assist. In the beginning, we were reluctant to let them do it. We considered it a form of distrust in the seriousness of our work. Over time, however, we realized the meaning was just the opposite. Those men felt pleasure in seeing their partner, naked, in the hands of another man, naked in turn, who touched and caressed her, even within the limits we give to our activity. They perceive their woman in a visible state of arousal, feel her breathing becoming short and laboured, see her cheeks going through all possible shades of red. And all that, instead of making them jealous, attracts them, showing them their partner under a different light making her more desirable to them."

The subject had particularly solicited the interest of Laura. She realized in fact that, perhaps for the first time, she could get something more about her husband's attitudes and his stubborn tendency to exhibit her. It was at that very moment that she had turned around, obeying, without realizing it, to the order Marco had given her. And now she was there, more and more confused, more and more wrapped in the coils in which that almost unknown man was, step by step, entangling her.

She decided it was too late to make use of her reserves of modesty, feeling that any movement in that direction would have emphasized even more the scandalous condition in which she had agreed to be dragged. She remained there, lying down, at the mercy of the masseur, hoping that he would have limited himself to not too intimate contacts. She feared not to be any longer able to respond to that touching with the appropriate disdain and resolve.

She then took advantage of their conversation to investigate what drove the men Marco was referring to. They were so similar, it was clear, to her own husband. In her naivety, she believed she could ask questions in a disinterested way, as if she barely wanted to satisfy a pure curiosity and not, instead, clarify doubts that had plagued her for years. Marco definitely understood her direct interest, convinced every moment more than the woman in front of him could reserve endless surprises.

He then decided that this woman was worth getting involved and thus began telling her some details about his life very few people knew about. He told her about the only serious relationship he had had. A Venetian girl, with whom he had lived for five years until, two years earlier, they had decided to break up, feeling the relationship exhausted. With that girl, he had lived experiences that even to him would have seemed senseless and unacceptable and that instead had become quite engaging.

It all began by chance, Marco explained, during a beach holiday. He and the girl had met another couple with whom they had enjoyed spending a lot of time until, one evening, perhaps thanks to a few wine glasses, they had had sex each with the other's partner. It had been a very engaging experience, which then had them questioned and put them in crisis, being everything outside their system of values and habits. Sometime later, however, they had decided to repeat the experience, this time with another couple and in a condition of greater sobriety. Marco said he realized that as pleasant as it had been to have sex with the woman of the other couple, he had felt the presence of that girl as an obstacle, which did not allow him to concentrate on what was happening to his partner.

He remembered that, for many days after the meeting, the image remained engraved in his mind of his girlfriend enjoying in the other man's arms. It was a thought that disturbed him, at times even making him feel bad, but at the same time exciting him tremendously and, above all, making grove inside him an uncontrollable desire for her and a love stronger than he could remember ever. A long time had been necessary to set those thoughts in place inside his head. Finally, he had found the courage to communicate to his girlfriend the conclusions he had reached: he didn't want any longer to repeat those experiences with four people nor assist to his partner intercourses with other men. But he wanted, as he had said with a trembling voice, that she continued to have experiences outside of their couple, on the condition of maintaining those relationships on a purely physical level and not to hide from him anything should happen.

Marco told Laura that his girlfriend had previously disqualified that proposal, whose meaning she did not understand. Their couple swapping was at last understandable, as the jealousy towards the other partner was handled by each of them through the awareness of being, at the same time, engaged in having sex with another person. But, what was the point of the arrangement he suggested to her? It was difficult for him to respond, because the answer was unclear even to him, unless vaguely and irrationally.

Slowly, however, they were able to understand each other. The girlfriend finally understood that what attracted him, in those situations, was mainly the possibility of seeing her in a different light: a woman aware of herself, free and, above all, determined to fully enjoy the pleasures of life, including the most physical and animal ones. The jealousy of her was not at all softened, but, provided he could be sure not to lose her, he would be able to control it. He clarified that, although it was a substantial sacrifice for him to not be allowed to see her in those encounters, he understood that his presence would inevitably alter her behaviour. He was convinced that the best solution was to leave her entirely free of expressing herself as she felt. She could remain concentrated on her wishes, knowing he was still willing to welcome her back and eager to melt together. She would later tell him everything had happened, perhaps dwelling on some detail capable of transmitting the feeling she had experienced. Then they would make love, reclaiming themselves and re-establishing the right order of things.

They had decided, though, not to exaggerate with those experiences, since they could not risk getting carried away and forget that real life was something else. They knew they could not make their connection depending too much on the intense feelings that extreme choice gave them. So they had limited meetings, always letting pass at least a few months between each other, not to be overwhelmed by the connected emotions.

Laura listened to Marco with open mouth, almost forgetting that she was naked in front of him, while his expert hands were running through her body with absolute freedom. That intimate story took her completely, making her lose in a tumult of feelings in which confusion and doubts mixed with the desire to try similar experiences. She identified herself with that girl, of which it was easy to understand the initial bewilderment as Marco had told her, envying, however, the ability to overcome it and to launch into a world of forbidden and unconfessable passions.

She imagined the embarrassment that she would feel in meeting men with whom, from the first moment, it would be clear that sex was the only reason to be together, without any screen to mask the desire to be taken and to let herself go. Without realizing it, she expressed aloud those considerations, allowing Marco to explain to her that, as his girlfriend used to tell him, those meetings never remained experiences of pure sex. She luckily did not felt in love with them, but sleeping with those men had always stirred positive feelings towards them, even when they were very different from her or people with whom, in other contexts, she would have exchanged not even two words.

Marco also told her, this time with a hint of embarrassment that Laura was amazed to feel in that so confident man, how extraordinarily beautiful and fulfilling was for them to meet again when his girlfriend returned from those appointments. Marco perceived every time her transformation: of course, she was always the person he loved, but somehow he felt her changed by the encounter with another man. He then needed to hug and kiss her for a long time before recognizing his woman and, only after making love, he could overcome the feeling of having lost a part of her. And instead, not only anything was lost, but their relationship grew stronger and stronger.

"But now let us stop talking and concentrate on our massage ... and on you", Marco concluded. He probably wanted to avoid being carried away by that story that had started as an attempt to catch Laura in his net and had turned into a confession, sincere as few times it had happened to him. While he was talking, Marco had continued to massage Laura's body, not leaving out an inch of her skin, but never going beyond the limit of decency. In manipulating her breastbone and the front of her shoulders, he had not left out her softly abandoned breasts but had been careful not to linger more than a few moments on her nipples. He had only grazed them with the back of his hand while touching the surrounding parts but had clearly felt how hardened and contracted they were. It was evident that Laura was aroused since the room temperature could not justify that state of her nipples.