Moving the Goalposts

It was around eight in the evening and I was just getting ready to leave when my mobile rang. It was Annie phoning from her office.

"Hi Sam, it's me." I could hear her giggling to herself.

"Annie, what the fuck is going on?" I snapped irritably.

"Are you okay to drive?" Her slurred voice sounded urgent.

"Of course I am. I'm still at work. Like I have been for the past few hours, waiting for you to fucking call me! Remember?" I answered starting to wonder why she was back at her office, my irritation suddenly starting to slide into concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that I've had rather too much to drink to drive and anyway I've got a little surprise for you."

"What about the drinks and I thought you were leaving early because..." but she cut across me.

"Well everyone else should have left the pub by now I'd imagine. Look can you just get over here as soon as possible or else you'll ruin your surprise." She paused as if waiting for me to say something but I couldn't think straight so she continued, "In fact, the surprise might just evaporate!" She was laughing now, obviously pleased with her apparent joke and the fact that I hadn't the faintest idea what she was talking about.

"Okay, I'll be there in about 15 minutes. I'll see you outside the main door." I wasn't sure what was going on but it was obvious I wasn't going to get any sense out of a drunken Annie over the phone.

"No Sam, come to my office. I've told security that I'm expecting you so they'll send you straight up." And with that the line went dead leaving me with a head full of unanswered questions. Why was she back at the office if she'd gone out for drinks? What on earth did she mean by an 'evaporating' surprise? Why couldn't she meet me at the main door? But then given recent events nothing should have surprised me much anymore especially given my complete complicity in them.

*

Annie and I met in the mid nineties at a pub in the centre of town; individual members of separate thirty-something groups who had somehow found themselves detached from their peers and who ended up spending the majority of the evening together. She was slim and pretty, dressed in what a decade later would become officially known as Bo-Ho Chic, her honey blonde hair cut short and spiky. I was very much an 'homme ordinaire', pretty average, mousy hair, medium build and height; an advertiser's dream I often thought. Even then we must have made an odd looking couple.

Annie, on a major rebound from a relationship that had ended in violence, spent most of the evening telling me what was wrong with the world and with her bright blue eyes sparkling with confidence exactly what needed to be done to change it. As for me, I was just meandering through life, my failed marriage now almost a distant memory. So I just stood and listened and smiled and occasionally nodded, and before I knew it I was totally infatuated.

When closing time arrived we left together and I walked her back to her place; she invited me in and we spent the rest of the night making love every which way. We did it slowly: we did it so gently that I thought my heart would explode; we did it in positions I'd never even thought of trying before; and finally, as the first faint glow of dawn arrived, we fucked violently; our mouths locked together; her clawing at my back, her long pointed nails driving me on as I rammed my cock in and out of her pussy as hard and as rapidly as she demanded. And afterwards, exhausted, we went to sleep wrapped in each others' arms.

We got up sometime around midday, went to the pub for Sunday lunch and spent the afternoon reading the papers and kissing. Just before I left we were at it again; Annie, her slim 5' 4" frame perched on the edge of the kitchen worktop, her long lithe legs wrapped around my back, pulling me into her.

We loosely arranged to see each other sometime the following weekend. However a couple of days later we met for lunch and the next evening I found myself back at her flat, looking up at her small pert breasts, her nipples pointing proudly upwards as she rode my face with her pussy for all she was worth. From then on we spent every spare moment of our lives together and it seemed as if we had fallen madly in love or lust or both. Within a few brief months, our conversations were even including the possibility of moving in together.

It was a roller-coaster ride that I was just happy to stay on to the end but once we were moving towards a more 'serious' relationship Annie suddenly started taking a much more cautious approach. For her it seemed that if we were to make such a major move then it had to be based on total and unequivocal honesty. On this she would brook no argument. There would be a sort of contract between us which we would discuss at length and then sign!

I went along with it all although I couldn't understand what the point was. It all sounded a bit like one of those stupid 'away day' workshops that modern businesses invest in, in the vain hope that it will somehow make staff more productive! Anyway on a designated Friday she came over to my flat; I opened what was by then an obligatory bottle of red wine and with Annie sitting opposite me on the floor, clipboard in hand, we began.

"Sam this is really, really important to me. I know you think I'm being stupid but I need to do this; I need for us to have a clear understanding of the boundaries." She stared straight at me waiting for a response.

"Okay," I replied a bit off-handedly, "but you must know how I feel about you Annie."

"Just hear me out Sam; please; just hear me out." I sat looking at her wondering what was to come. "If you think this is going to be hard for you then it really is nothing -nothing compared to how much it will hurt me. But if you really mean what you say about your feelings for me then I think I might be able to guarantee a very satisfactory conclusion!" He face broke into a broad smile, a smile that melted me completely.

She sat for a minute, composing herself for what was to come. "Right;" she said and after a brief pause continued, "This is, if you like, something of a fable for our times so that is how I will tell it." Again she stopped as if she was already finding carrying on difficult.

"Once upon a time there were two sisters. They shared everything which each other; the place where they lived; what they liked; who they'd been out with; where they'd been; who they fancied; even what their boyfriends were like in bed. In fact they were as close as any two people could be." She paused as she collected her thoughts, her expression now far more serious than when she had started.

"One day one of the sisters came back early from a training course but instead of going back to her flat she decided to go straight to her boyfriend's." An ironic smile crossed her lips. "She thought -- thought that she could give him a lovely surprise when he got home from work." Her voice was now harder and as I looked up at her I could see her trembling slightly.

"As she turned," she paused yet again, as if summoning up the courage to continue, "As she turned the key in the lock and began to open the door, she could hear sounds -- familiar sounds." Annie was looking around now as if she was listening for them once again.

"Some of the sounds she understood but at the same time there were incongruous sounds, impossible sounds. Those that she understood belonged here in her boyfriend's flat; but the other sounds belonged elsewhere; in another equally important part of her life." Annie looked up and as she did I could see her trying to fight back her tears.

"Before she knew it, she was standing in the hallway, looking through an open doorway into the lounge." I sat there in stunned silence; feeling Annie's pain; watching as her tears started to form. I was beginning to realize where this was all going but was powerless to stop it. She was really struggling, desperately trying to finish the story, tears now cascading down her face.

"In the middle - right in the middle - the middle of the lounge," each sob now feeling like a knife in me, "surrounded by their discarded clothes she saw her s-s-sister; her s-s-sister s-s-sitting a-a-astride her b-b-boyfriend," I couldn't see how she could get to the end; she seemed on the verge of complete collapse but suddenly Annie pulled herself together. "She was fucking him; the fucking little slut whore was fucking him for all she was worth," finally crashed out of her shaking body.

We sat in silence for what seemed an age. I was desperate to say something but no words came to me. I reached in my pocket and proffered my handkerchief which she took without acknowledgement and began wiping the streaks of mascara from her face and then said quite calmly. "And that is why we need this contract; for you, for me, for both of us.

"What happened next?" I asked more because I was lost for words than anything constructive.

"Oh. Sophie and I were suddenly at each others' throats; rolling on the floor, fighting like crazy, biting, scratching, gouging, pulling each others' hair, whatever we could do to hurt each other. If Liam hadn't been there one of us would probably have been killed." She chuckled to herself. "Ironic or what! Liam saving the day!"

"After he'd finally managed to separate us I just ran; I ran away. I went straight back to the flat, packed everything of mine I could find as quickly as I could and left forever. I never found out what happened to Sophie and Liam after I left; they probably got married!" She chuckled again but slightly less bitterly this time. "I never saw them or any of our friends ever again. I couldn't face them; the deceit, the humiliation, the betrayal was all too much for me to deal with."

About half an hour later after she had finally recovered we carried on with the 'contract'; her taking notes as she explained that we were now going to dig into each others' sexual pasts; no stone was to be left unturned. I had to hand it to her. She was so organized; she had compiled about half a dozen questions that I was advised were to be answered with complete honesty. I couldn't really see any problems with that and so she began.

"Have you ever had a homosexual experience?" She looked pointedly for me to answer and before I could conjure up the obvious lie she fixed my gaze. "Remember Sam -- the absolute truth," her knowing continuation.

So as I drank yet another glass of wine, I told her about the boy next door called Jason. Told her about how, as 14 year olds, we'd camped in the woods at the bottom of his garden; how we'd drunk a bottle of his parents' home made wine that we'd managed to smuggle out; and about how discussions about girls had started to arouse us both. And eventually and with some difficulty I told her about stroking each others' cocks; how it felt when Jason's cock exploded and how after he was asleep I had jerked myself off imagining taking him in my mouth.

"Wow" she said in amazement as my tale came to a close. "My Sammy really is a dark horse isn't he!" She had a huge smile on her face as she put down her clipboard and crawled across to me. "And for being so truthful you of course get your just reward." And then I felt her engulfing me and soon we were cavorting about on the floor our tongues locked together, our hands seeking out each others' intimate areas.

And that's how we continued through all the questions; like a game. For every answer the listener it seemed decided how much of a reward it was worth; each brief encounter leaving us more and more excited.

Annie had had a typical lesbian experience when she was about 12. An elder cousin staying over had taught her how to kiss properly with tongues. They'd shown each other their pussies and then her cousin had introduced her to the delights that were available though manual stimulation of the clitoris; a pleasure that Annie then happily reciprocated. By the time the cousin left the next morning Annie had developed a major but unfortunately unrequited crush; the next time they met, her cousin had a boyfriend in tow.

I told her of a drunken threesome I had had with my ex-wife and a mutual girlfriend. However this paled into insignificance once Annie revealed the number of occasions she'd enjoyed group sex situations during a period in her life which seemed to revolve around getting completely wasted and screwing. This was apparently her 'wild faze' when drink, drugs and casual sex with whoever happened to be around appeared to have been just about her sole 'modus operandi'. It was a side of her character that was probably as much a shock to me as my, albeit less extensive homosexual activity appeared to have been to her. It was also a facet of Annie that I somehow found totally irresistible; the 'slut within' that later on I would foolishly feel impelled to re-awaken.

By the time we were on the last question, and I was admitting that my only act of unfaithfulness during a serious relationship was a quick Christmas party grope in my manager's office with his secretary we were both very drunk and extremely horny. The 'contract' was duly signed and we staggered off to bed and a long weekend of almost constant sex and the start of our new life together.

We married as an afterthought really. We didn't need the formality; we felt we had the perfect relationship and of course we had the 'contract'. Our friends made up the majority of the guests. My parents were there, but Annie's had already long ago passed away; her father when she was three; her mother when she was in her late teens. Her only living relative seemed to be her sister who for fairly obvious reasons wasn't on the guest list. We had no secrets; if we fancied someone else we told each other, talked about them honestly and openly and then more often than not went to bed. And just like that, we slipped through the nineties, and into the so called 'noughties' with barely a hiccup.

By the turn of the century we'd done pretty much what I expect is usual stuff; a bit of 'bondage light'; alright but which didn't really get us much beyond giggling because my knots kept coming undone. We watched a fair bit of pornography. Again pretty much the norm I expect -- lesbian stuff, bondage, orgies, interracial etc. We'd bought a nice house on the edge of town; a result of both of us having reasonably successful careers. However these had also taken their toll on our time and energies and despite our best efforts, our sex life was slowly but inexorably tapering off.

Then, suddenly, within a few short months and seemingly from out of nowhere a series of events sparked our carnal desires beyond anywhere they'd previously been. However far more importantly they would also shatter the gentle equilibrium of our lives forever more.

It all started fairly innocently enough. Sometime early in 2002 Annie had become friendly with a girl who was temping in their accounts department and they had started going out for a quick drink after work on the odd occasion. Their drinking chats soon turned from work to play and they were soon discussing past and present relationships. It seems that they both had quite a 'back catalogue' of heterosexual and bisexual experiences to draw on the only difference being that Jo was at the time in a lesbian relationship with a woman called Louisa.

I don't know why, perhaps the lack of current sex, but this started getting me excited. I even said to Annie that Jo probably fancied her and was trying to get into her pants. I remember Annie looking at me aghast as if I'd made an obvious stereotypical male gaffe.

"Sam. That is so stupid. Honestly!" She looked at me, incredulity written all over her face. "I can't believe you just said that! We're friends okay. I don't know; you men! Just because she's gay doesn't mean she wants to shag every female she meets." Despite this minor 'dressing down' I couldn't break out of the loop I'd got into -- what Annie had told me had got my mind racing and I started fantasizing about Jo seducing her.

We had used fantasies in our lovemaking many times before but always in the abstract; usually involving someone or something that we'd seen in a porn film but never someone that one of us actually knew. I was desperate to share my fantasies about Jo seducing her with Annie but for obvious reasons felt uneasy about how to go about it.

Then, one sunny evening, over a meal in a country pub I started talking about Jo. Just general things about her; age, looks etc. According to Annie, Jo wasn't either particularly butch or femme looking; she was attractive rather than pretty, with a slim, slightly boyish figure. She was about Annie's height, maybe an inch taller with thick black hair cut in a short bob, hazel eyes and a single stud in her nose, in fact a fairly typical late twenty-something. However as the conversation progressed I finally managed to get Annie to admit that she quite fancied Jo; in fact as the drinks flowed she even professed to wondering what sex would be like with a 'real' lesbian as against the few overtly bisexual experiences she'd had in the past!

So, late that evening as we sat on the sofa I took the plunge. We were both quite merry, the weekend lay ahead; it was as good a moment as ever. I started kissing Annie, running my hand up and down her thighs, slowly inching towards her pussy. She was lying back and for once letting her thighs relax and slip apart as she started kissing me back. I'd reached her panties without restraint so I started to stroke her pussy through them. Suddenly it felt like now or never.

"I bet Jo would like to do this to you," I whispered in her ear. Nervously I waited for her response.

"Mmmmmmm," she purred softly. It sounded part thoughtful self questioning, and part affirmative answer. Either way it wasn't a 'show stopper' so I pressed on with one of the many scenarios involving Jo and Annie that I'd recently dreamt up.

I was away on business (a conveniently easy resource in fantasy land) and Jo had dropped by with some papers from work (ditto). From there on it was plain sailing, albeit into a pretty clichéd sexual fantasy. However little did I know at the time exactly what I was about to unleash.

'Why not stay for a drink?' Annie suggests. A bottle is duly uncorked and before long they are sitting together on the sofa sipping their wine; the mood relaxed and increasingly cozy. Jo starts flirting with Annie but only subtly, she has plenty of time; and after all Annie is already returning some positive signals.

Light touches, shy but knowing smiles, brief glances gradually gravitating to longer eye contact follow, leading slowly but inexorably to that first soft sensual kiss. The kiss increases in intensity as their tongues explore each others' mouths; their hands caressing each other until Jo's hand is working in unison with mine, rubbing Annie's mound through her panty crotch.

Annie was responding to my touches, showing levels of arousal that she hadn't displayed for a long while. So I pressed on.

"Would you like her fingers stroking you through your panties like mine are now?" I asked immediately feeling her start to squirm beneath me. I paused for a moment confident of her answer but wanting to hear it from her lips.

"Please Sam, please," she whispered back, her hips now gyrating more urgently. I couldn't believe how much the idea was turning her on.

"Please what Annie; what do you want Jo to do?" I was teasing her thinking that I had her just where I wanted her.

"Don't stop, please don't stop," she panted her voice now urgent. As I felt her orgasm starting to build I slipped my hand inside her panties and began to tease her swollen bud.

"Jo's fingers are playing with your clit now aren't they?" I continued now sure of the response.

"Ooh yes; ooh yes," she moaned her hips starting to buck as she ground her pussy against my fingers. She slipped further down the sofa stretching her legs wide apart and bunching her skirt high around her waist.