Notes:
1. This is a cheating wife story. I'd like your comments, but you don't need to point out to me it's a cheating wife story. I do realize this.
2. Let's not think it's anything more than a story, okay? I'm not particularly interested in your moral pronouncements of the characters within.
3. Let's not get carried away into assuming the story reflects the life I lead. It is fiction and that means these events did not happen. Repeat: did not happen.
4. I'm particularly interested in, then, on:
a) technique and/or style;
b) the associations of guilt and sexual desire, nd love and sexual desire.
This interest is reflected in many of my stories. The idea is simply that guilt can fuel desire (rather than limit it) and that love can dampen desire, rather than fuel it.
Such a thesis is far from radical - clearly most loving marriages see less and less sex. And clearly many men and women seek sex or sexual pleasure outside of their marriages.
I'm not here arguing for the rightness or wrongness of anything.
*****
I'm 25, married a little over a year to a great guy, I've got a great job, and generally life is good. I'm considered very attractive – tall (5'9"), slim, straight long dark brown hair, flat stomach, tight perfect butt, great legs, and firm b-cup breasts.
I have a large wardrobe and I'm not ashamed to add just a little sexiness to what I wear. My business suits are somewhat conservative, but I always shorten the skirts to several inches above the knee. When I'm out, sexy (but not slutty) clothes rule.
Like any normal human being, I of course fantasized about romantic sexual liaisons with various fantasy men. But fantasy and reality were kept separate.
I don't know what it was, but at some point I became consciously aware that I was open to an encounter with another man.
It wasn't, as far as I could see, any fault of my husband's. He's a good man. I have no complaints with him in bed. And I do love him. Things don't seem stale. He's as attentive as when we were dating.
It wasn't that I had some strange fetish. I didn't need to live out any bizarre fantasy.
It wasn't that I had the hots for any one particular guy. Of course, there are guys I find attractive. But I had no plan to try to get any of them into bed.
It was just a gut feeling I had that should the right guy come along with the right opportunity, I could see myself bedding him. It was a feeling that I could easily keep it as a separate part of my life, and not feel guilty, and not let it impact my marriage. It was a feeling I could handle it.
Now for most couples, it's not the kind of thing you discuss. So my husband had no idea of this general feeling I had. And really, I had no complaints as to our sex life. We had good sex and we had it frequently.
If I were to make a guess – it would be that I was attracted to a purely sexual relationship – a relationship where other feelings or emotions wouldn't get involved. It was, I guess, a wanting of pure sex just for the purposes of having pure sex. I was open to the idea of bedding some guy I found hot but had no other feelings for.
I didn't want to bed any guy at work. I didn't want to bed any friend. I just was warm to the idea of having sex with some as yet to be decided beefcake guy. I wanted "sex for the sake of sex". Really, it was a feeling no different than the guy who sees a prostitute; or spends an hour in one of those illicit massage parlours.
Still, it wasn't like I was actively hunting for a bed mate. I was just open to the possibility. And actually, I wasn't so very open to it. Guys don't care about wedding bands. Opportunities presented themselves, especially at the office. But as I said, I didn't even consider these offers. Frankly, bringing office baggage into the bed was a total turn off.
I only mention this because really I had insulated myself from the kinds of opportunities I'm claiming I was open to. I just wasn't in an environment where I was meeting potential bed partners. My evenings and weekends were with my husband. I wasn't ever "on the prowl."
I lived the routine of my life now self-aware that under some vague set of possible circumstances, I had this also vague desire to bed another man.
This awareness allowed me to reflect on my feelings. It was clear I felt no guilt. I felt no guilt, not because I hadn't cheated yet, but because I felt it was no reflection on the state of my marriage. This desire was totally separate from my commitment to my husband.
And yet I was also aware I wasn't fulfilling this desire because I wasn't allowing for such opportunities to occur. I wasn't cruising bars alone in the evenings. I rarely went on girls nights out with my friends – and when I did, I stayed with my friends.
The opportunity to meet a hot guy who wasn't a friend; wasn't a friend of a friend; wasn't a co-worker; wasn't a friend of a co-worker etc. simply wasn't there.
Unless I was willing to hit on some grocery store delivery guy, I'd have to make some change in my life in order to find such a guy.
I also began contemplating whether I wanted a one time fling or an ongoing relationship. I really wasn't interested in becoming emotionally attached to anybody, but I also realized that there was no reason to think that this desire for "pure" sex would be any lessened once it happened. I was pretty sure I'd want it again, if it were a good experience. So, if I did manage to find a successful candidate, the odds were if the first time it was good, I'd want it a second time. And having found someone who met my needs, it seemed a little crazy to cut him off only to start looking for someone else.
I decided, then, that I was therefore looking for an ongoing relationship rather than a one time fling, if the guy could deliver the goods.
So these were the parameters. I wanted another man in bed. I didn't want to change my life or lifestyle or impact my husband to get one. I wasn't going to suddenly be leaving my husband home at nights in order to find and fuck a guy. I wasn't going to abandon him on the weekends. I realized it would be difficult to find what I wanted.
My first conscious decision, then, was to alter my choice of clothing. Given how limited my opportunities were (limited by my own making), I decided I needed to make sure I was sending out the necessary signals to anyone that looked my way.
I consciously chose my sexier outfits. Again, I didn't want to look like a "whore" sign was flashing on my forehead, but I wanted to make sure that every live male who came my way got a glimpse of my thighs. I wore only the shortest of my skirts. When possible I unbuttoned an extra button on my blouse.
On the weekend I relegated most of my pairs of jeans to the back and only wore my tightest pair – complete with a few rips in them. I even purchased a really tight little denim mini, which was now back in style.
I consciously dressed sexier and I was conscious of the impact this had on men. Men have sex radar. You can watch it in action the way they suddenly turn their necks 90 degrees to see something not previously in their sight lines.
My second conscious decision was to switch fitness clubs. I realized that my current fitness club, because it was located in the building where I worked was eliminating the possibility of my interacting with potential sex partners.
Even if I had found some guy there, I'd be too afraid I'd be noticed by a co-worker. It would be just too risky to contemplate an ongoing sexual relationship with a guy who I might be seen with by a co-worker.
I told my husband one day that I was finding my fitness club too crowded and not very good. The next week I mentioned I'd found this club half way between work and home that I thought I might try. It actually wasn't any better or any less crowded. It just didn't have anyone I knew at it as members.
Not only would this place provide me with the opportunity to meet a guy, but it would also allow me the opportunity to wear those sexy little work-out outfits that I wouldn't have worn at the club in my office building.
My first purchase, then, was a couple of pairs of those little black spandex short shorts, and about 3 tight fitting slightly cropped white tank tops. At the new club, this was my uniform.
By my fourth day at the new club, I felt I was fully on the prowl. By the third week several guys had introduced themselves to me. I was aware some were warded off by my wedding ring. But it didn't feel right taking it off. Other guys weren't bothered by it at all. In their own minds I'm sure they thought they were just being nice. But it was clear to me, at least, that they were fishing for opportunities.
I've got to say, though, for any of these guys I didn't feel that my general urge for a bed partner had become a specific urge for any of these particular guys. I was nice back to them, but left it at that. I began to wonder if in fact I really did want to engage in extra-marital sex. Maybe, it was all just a little bit of getting a fantasy confused with a genuine desire. Maybe, really, cheating wasn't what I wanted. Maybe this was just a way my guilt mechanism worked.