Todd

This is the first chapter of a three-part story. The story has been completed and each chapter will be posted as it is approved. Please note the content tags. This is a work of fiction, and all participants are over the age of 18. The author takes full responsibility for any inaccuracies in depiction of Saudi or US culture, and apologizes for any mistakes or misinterpretations.

"Do you know how far we are from anywhere, Todd?" Stephanie asked the minute I opened the door to our room. She was stretched out on the bed in a hotel robe, long golden hair draped over the pillow, remote control in one hand and phone in the other.

I frowned, but bit back a retort. It had been a long day for me and my offsider Alex at the trade fair and I was beat. I'd always known there was a risk that Steph would be bored.

"Hey babe," I said brightly, and went over to offer a kiss, which she accepted with a small smile. "I'm sorry, I know it's not exactly Riyadh Central here, but I do need to point out that it's a $1500 dollar a night luxury hotel with amazing food and more spa treatments than even you could work through in a week."

She gave a light laugh, patting the bed next to her in invitation as I kicked my shoes off. "Okay, you got me there. And you'll be happy to know that I exercised a bit of restraint. No point bankrupting the business."

I hugged her in genuine appreciation. "Thanks babe. This week is a bit of roll of the dice."

We both knew that that was an understatement. I had a small start-up with minimal staff, but we had developed some very good software and I had taken a big risk in splurging some of our tiny working capital for a week of pressing the flesh in Saudi Arabia, at the suggestion of an interested client. Alex and I had spent the day setting up my booth -- the conference itself was starting tomorrow. All was good to go, but we were nervous.

Steph worked in another field completely. She sometimes helped me out with her knowledge of trade logistics, but otherwise stayed away from my business, unless there was the chance to take a week off to stay at a luxury hotel in the desert.

"The pool is included, at least," she said, and indeed I could smell the faint remains of chlorine in her hair. "First I had a back massage though. It's strictly female to female or male to male of course, so need to worry unless I feel like some girl love."

I chuckled. Steph was adventurous and I wouldn't have stood in her way, but we both knew that same sex activities would be a bad idea during our week in the Kingdom, despite the recent liberalization.

"They have some female only pool time during the morning," she continued, "but by the time I got there, it was back to mixed access." She stroked my arm teasingly. "It was just me and a guy there, swimming laps. We didn't talk, but I have to say, he was very fit."

"And you said you were bored here!" I laughed. "It sounds like you're in your element."

We chatted a little more, and then Steph convinced me to do the right thing by inviting my assistant Alex to join us for a late dinner downstairs.

"Treat your team like they're everything, even though I'm here too," said Steph, and she followed through by being charming and attentive to Alex right through the meal. It was Alex's first trip overseas but she was a great operator and doing really well. I would be leaning on her sales skills, and (to be frank) her good looks this week. As a green-eyed redhead, she stood out from the crowd of white-robed men and dark-robed women at this hotel, but she could also more than match it in product knowledge with anybody in the room. Steph, no slouch in that area herself, gave Alex some suggestions on techniques for moving the pitch on quickly for those who were coming to gawk rather than buy, but I'm not sure Alex needed the advice.

It was late when we finally got to bed, and tomorrow was going to be a big day. Steph, bless her, took pity on me and contented herself with a kiss and a cuddle before we drifted off to sleep.

...

The next morning went really well. It was quiet at first while the conference was in session, but then delegates poured out for their break, and it never really slowed down from there. Our software was niche, but it was clever, and we could reasonably claim a significant boost in marketing efficiency: we knew our numbers stacked up well.

One of our first customers was Ahmad, the potential client who had suggested that we come out. Like all the men here, he was dressed in the traditional white

thawb

, or robe, with the checkered red headscarf and a light beard. He was lean, fit, and carried an air of command: I noticed others around him being deferential in their interactions. He spent a good hour with us as we talked him through the software and showed off some of the features. I did notice his eyes wandering over Alex's figure more than I was really comfortable with, but we had expected that. Alex had herself dressed modestly and professionally: she couldn't help her looks, but she could use them to advantage.

Abruptly, Ahmad seemed to reach a decision, and signaled to one of his staff to stay and discuss terms while he strode off to do other things. 30 minutes later, we had a sale that would more than justify the price of the trip. It was a very good start, and we were able to back that up with some smaller sales during the day. Once Ahmad had given his nod of approval, it seemed that we were ahead of the pack.

When I reached our room, I was exhausted again, but buoyant. "Babe, guess what!" I sang out as I strode through the door. I knew she'd be relieved for both our sakes, and I was gearing up to give her all of my energy and attention tonight.

But Stephanie wasn't there. The lights and aircon were off, and the air was stale. I had a moment of panic, and then relaxed when I realized that her gear was still there. She was obviously just out for a bit longer that she'd expected.

Come to think of it, why should she be waiting for me? I hadn't even let her know that we were finished for the day. Cursing myself for being ridiculous, I sent her a message, and within a few minutes a thumbs up came back.

It took more than half an hour before Steph herself came back though, and she looked a bit flushed. She was carrying an expensive looking shopping bag as well as her gym bag.

"Sorry Todd," she said sheepishly. "I, um, I've been a bit silly. Nothing really happened, but... I should have asked."

I didn't really know what to say.

"Nothing happened but you need to apologize?"

She took a deep breath, put her bags down, and drew me down to sit on the bed with her. Abruptly she lunged forward and kissed me, arms wrapped around me, tongue pressing urgently into my mouth. I went with it, and we had a few minutes of smooching before she pulled back.

"Whatever you've got to tell me might be almost worth it," I said, bemused.

She flushed again, and then plunged in. "Remember how I told you about the mixed bathing at the pool, and how there was just a guy doing laps at the same time as me yesterday?"

My heart started racing. "Yes?"

"Today the same guy was there, and we started talking."

"And?"

She suddenly couldn't look at me.

"And it turns out that he's a Saudi prince, an emir. He's staying in the penthouse suite."

The world started spinning around me. How the

fuck

could I compete against a prince?

She felt me stiffening, and clasped my hand urgently. "Nothing happened! We just.... talked."

"Just... talked?" I mimicked, doing air quotes back at her. "Then why the guilt?"

"Um... well he did invite me up to the penthouse, and I guess we talked there..."

"And...?" I could hear that my tone was sounding dangerous, but I didn't care.

"And he took me out shopping for some very expensive lingerie and convinced me to try some on," she said in a very small voice. "That's what was happening when you messaged me."

I sat frozen. She was still clasping my hand, but I didn't acknowledge her presence for a minute while I strove to get myself under control. Finally I turned and looked at her.

"What would have happened if I hadn't have messaged?" I asked quietly.

She looked at me, teary. "I don't know, Todd. I really don't. I'm sorry. I know we have an agreement to talk before anything that might be a bit... wild, but it all went out of my head."

She was tense and braced for a fight, but I suddenly realized that it was time for me to be a better man than that. I couldn't judge her on hypotheticals. She had been well down the pathway, but she had stopped, returned, and confessed to me. If she said she didn't know what would have happened had I not messaged her, she was likely telling the truth.

So instead of yelling, or arguing about something that she couldn't reassure me on, I offered her a hug. She accepted and collapsed limply, gratefully, in my arms.

We cuddled for a while, and then I quietly asked her if she'd like me to order in some room service for dinner. She nodded numbly, and I ordered up a couple of her favorites. Then I called Alex and apologized that she wouldn't be seeing us tonight, and begged her nicely to take the early shift in the morning. I promised to turn up by the first break when it would start to get busy. Alex didn't ask any questions, but before I put the phone down, she particularly asked me to give Stephanie her love.

"You heard that?" I asked, as I put the phone down, and Steph gave me a faint smile.

"She's a keeper," she said. "She might be your boss one day if you're not careful."

"She'll deserve to be," I said. I took a deep breath. "Okay, if you're up to it, talk me through this more slowly. I'm not going to yell at you. I love you and I trust you, but we need to work this through together, so don't hold back. We need to understand how you went from doing laps to modelling lingerie for a rich stranger in the course of an afternoon, and then we can make some good decisions together."

Steph let out a sob. "I don't deserve you," she said, and gave me a squeeze while she gathered her thoughts.

"I don't have any excuse," she started. "I'm an adult and I'm accountable for my actions. I need to say that. I'm not some doe-eyed innocent ready to be seduced."

"Noted, but tell me how he seduced you anyway," I said dryly.

She gave a light but bitter laugh. "Fair call. Well, I guess I can be honest about how I set myself up. I've always had a rich handsome prince fantasy, and when I actually met a rich handsome prince, it appears that I didn't have much in the way of defenses."

She was silent again for a moment. "We were chatting in the pool. I was wearing a modest one-piece of course, but, well, I am proud of my figure and you know I work hard for it, so it's not exactly like I look ugly in that suit. And he led me beautifully through the conversation. I didn't tell him anything about you, but he pretty quickly got that I was a bored conference wife who would respond to his attention. He asked me my impressions of Saudi Arabia, and of course I told him that I hadn't seen anything outside this hotel. That let him invite me to come and visit the real Saudi Arabia any time, and that's when he dropped the prince stuff into the conversation and mentioned the penthouse. I know that there are thousands of princes here of course and many of them are poor nobodies, so I guess the penthouse was to underline that he's the real deal. And before I knew it, he had arranged that he should meet me once I'd showered and changed, and he would show me the view from the hotel roof and tell me about life in Riyadh."

"Which just happened to be from his penthouse," I said. "Smart man."

She nodded ruefully. "Exactly. Within twenty minutes, I was sitting in his private rooftop garden with a cool drink while he explained the differences between public life and life behind closed doors in their culture. Then somehow that led to him showing off the rooms inside, including the jacuzzi, the billards table, and an incredible bedroom that would fit half our apartment into it. And then he managed to ask whether American women like me wore nice lingerie for their husbands in the same way that Saudi Arabian women do, and in a matter of minutes we were at the lingerie shop in the mall next door, and there were two gorgeous female shop assistants dressed in their black abayas who were selecting lingerie for me to try on and parade in front of him. Obviously they knew that he wasn't my husband, but it seems that money gets you some flexible morals even here."

She waved at the shopping bag. "When your message came through, it was like a spell was broken. I was just showing him how I looked in an amazingly expensive bit of satin and lace, but I told him that I had to go, and he very smoothly insisted on buying everything for me. The girls helped me get changed back to this, and then he wished me well and told me that he hopes to see me at the pool again tomorrow. He escorted me back to the hotel as though that was always going to be part of the plan instead of getting me back into the penthouse half-naked. I think that I'm expected to tell you that a nice man helped me with some shopping. Perhaps that's all it ever was."

I shook my head and laughed. "Honey, you know that would be totally gaslighting yourself. No, he wanted you in bed. Perhaps one of his minions was trying to find out who I was at the conference and make sure I stayed late, but we had such a good day that we finished on time without guilt."

She smiled. "I guess even a perfect prince can have flaws in his plan. I'm glad you had a good day. I'm sorry for ruining it."

Just then there was a knock at the door and our dinner arrived. We ate in silence, thinking our separate thoughts.

I took a deep breath. "Nothing's ruined. But I guess I have a confession too."

She looked at me, startled, and waited for me to continue.

"You've always had a handsome prince fantasy. I, um, I would be okay with you acting that out. As long as we were honest with each other. As long as you took precautions."

She sat stunned for a minute, digesting this.

"Do you

want

me to do this, Todd?"

"I want you to be happy and to have some freedom in our marriage. You've always been adventurous, and you'll never get a better chance than this. So I want you to have the choice to do it, with my approval."

She looked at me dubiously. "Are you sure that there isn't a princess that you haven't told me about?"

I laughed. "No, but if there was, I'd want us to have a conversation and work it out together, and I would obey your wishes. I love you and I wouldn't want to risk that. But putting you in a cage is another kind of risk."

"I get all that, Todd, and I appreciate it. Just for the record, if there

was

a princess, I'd like to be in the room with you and her, not stuck alone bringing myself off. I'm calling bullshit on that last speech though, and I have to ask you more bluntly:

are you turned on by the thought of me being fucked by an Arabian prince?

Yes or no."

She had me pinned.

"Yes."

She was fully back to her usual decisive self. "Okay then. Now we know where we stand. I'll have a think about whether I'm going swimming tomorrow, and I may or may not let you know what I decide."

What had I done?

We sat together in silence for a bit more, and then I got up and started cleaning up the dinner, losing myself in the mundane. Steph went into the bathroom, and was in there for a while, coming out wearing a hotel robe.

"Todd, there's one more thing," she said.

"Yes?" I said apprehensively.

"If I go through with this, I'm not going to tell him anything about you or this conversation. I'd let him think that I'm cheating behind your back. I'm also not going to tell him that my favorite lingerie set from today is the one I'm wearing for you tonight."

She dropped the robe to the floor. Under it, she was wearing a frankly breathtaking ensemble in blue satin and lace, matching her eyes perfectly. The bra was thin gossamer, supporting her weighty breasts but barely covering her nipples. Skimpy lacy panties worn over a garter belt, and white stockings completed the look. The panties only partially hid her well-trimmed but proud blond bush: Steph had never been one for shaving everything off, and I was totally in favor.

I walked over and embraced her, and then led her over to the bed. I kept her standing, but knelt down on the floor and started kissing up her body, starting with her stockinged ankles, then up past her knees, her thighs, and then a light nuzzle into her crotch before I kept moving up, lovingly pausing at her navel, then across both breasts until I finally reached her throat and her face, dropping butterfly kisses all over until she was giggling. Then I circled around behind her and started my journey down her back, but this time pausing to unhook the bra and ease it off her. I gently kissed both cheeks of her delectable ass before pulling the skimpy panties down her legs, and burying my tongue in her crack. I left the garter belt and stockings on, of course.

I turned her around and started another slow journey up her body, but lingering between her legs, tonguing her vulva teasingly while she squirmed, and then continuing to her gorgeous bare nipples, standing out rosy and proud from her heaving chest. Then I embraced her in a slow French kiss, hands gently kneading her ass, and I lowered down to the bed, head facing up on the nest of pillows and legs lewdly spread.

She eyed me smilingly as I stripped out of my suit, and then I joined her on the bed, heading straight back down to her fragrant pussy for some serious tongue action. Before long she was moaning and wriggling as I started working her clit harder, curling two fingers inside as I searched for her g-spot.

I

always

found her g-spot.

She came loudly, shuddering, and then grabbed my face and lathered me with her kisses when I moved up to embrace her. Steph was never shy about tasting her own juices. After a minute, she started thrusting her hips underneath me, encouraging me inside her. I didn't hold back. Tonight I wanted to give her a good old fashioned fucking, and soon I was thrusting in deeply and hard. I may not be swimming laps every day like her, but I could still hold my own in bed, and I made sure to remind her. We rolled over and over, but even when she was on top, I gave her no respite, bucking up to penetrate deeply, and working her nipples with my fingers.

She started moaning again and I could tell she was heading toward another peak. I quickly flipped her over again and started ploughing her in missionary position, penetrating to her depths. With a few more thrusts we came together, me with an explosive grunt and her with a scream that would have been heard all the way down the corridor.

We collapsed together on the bed, and I whispered in gravel tones in her ear.

"

Should

you take it further with the Prince, I just want you to remember that you

always

come at least twice with me, and I know you're not faking it."

She gave a low, throaty laugh. "Believe me, Todd, you've made your point."

***

We had breakfast sent up the next morning, and then slowly got ourselves ready for the day. Steph dressed for the gym, but seemed indecisive about whether to pack her swimmers. We hadn't talked about it any further. I didn't think I had much further to say: I was going to leave the decision to her, and we would live with the consequences. There was one practical issue though.

"Do you want me to get a box of condoms from downstairs?" I asked. "Easier for a guy to do that, but I don't trust your prince to do it."

She looked shocked at my question, but then nodded. I went down to the hotel pharmacy. When I came back, she was still standing, lost in thought. She took the box without comment and added it to the bag, and then looked at me.