Under the Influence

Jim sat on the side of the bed and stared at the bathroom door. His lips were pursed and his brow furrowed anxiously as he waited.

At the sound of the toilet flushing, he froze in suspense as a wave of anxiety washed over him. Every muscle in his body felt tense as he stared nervously at the door.

Having been through this ritual every month for almost three years now, Jim counted slowly down from twenty and fought the urge to call out to his wife.

19... 18... 17...

Experience had taught him not to dare to hope. Hope made the pain worse.

16... 15... 14...

But he couldn't help it.

13... 12... 11...

Maybe this would be the one, the success, the dream.

10... 9... 8...

A quick daydream flashed through his mind of him and Anna celebrating the good news. Calling friends and family on the phone and telling them the exciting news. He pushed the images from his mind angrily.

7... 6... 5...

This was it. The final round of IVF. This was the end of the road and he was seconds away from finding out. He couldn't stand the wait, not wanting to know but at the same time desperate to know.

4... 3... 2... 1...

Nothing.

Silence rang out from the bathroom like an explosion. Jim waited a few more moments before standing and walking to the bathroom door. He knocked tentatively and waited. There was no reply so he knocked again a bit louder.

The realisation was dawning on him slowly, despair threatening to drown him. If it was good news he would would have heard by now, silence was not a good sign.

He opened the door gently and poked his head around the corner. Anna was sitting on the floor with her head in her hands sobbing quietly.

The sadness hit him like a brick wall stunning him for a second. He forced himself to ignore it. However hard this was for him, it was even worse for her. She was the one that had endured the months of painful and invasive procedures. She was the one that had been told 'The problem is with you' by their doctor. She was the one that felt like she wasn't a real woman.

He walked over and sat down next to her. Then he put his arm around her and pulled her close, and they cried together for a while.

***

Jim and Anna had started trying for a baby almost immediately after getting married. At first it was fun and exciting, they talked about how many children they wanted and what they would call them. Anna laughed at the ridiculous names that Jim came up with, and Jim vetoed all Anna's names because they reminded him of people he had known when he was younger.

The monthly pregnancy test was something they looked forward to as they longed to see a positive result. The first few negative results were easy to explain away. They looked up statistics about conception and told themselves that it was perfectly normal for it to take a while.

However, after nine months of trying without success, they decided to asked their doctor for help. He referred them to a fertility specialist who ran some tests. After a few weeks of waiting nervously they were hit with the news that Anna suffered from premature ovarian failure, which was an incurable problem that meant she would find it very difficult to conceive a child naturally.

They were referred to another fertility specialist, who was happy to recommend a course of IVF - which she said had a good chance of success - until the specialist checked their health insurance coverage and found that it didn't cover any fertility treatment.

For some couples, this would have been a small footnote in their journey towards having children. But for Jim and Anna it was a major obstacle. They had no savings, Anna was out of work, and Jim worked as a freelance Graphic Designer - not a job that paid particularly well.

The specialist told them it would cost $8,200 per round of IVF, and once it became clear that they couldn't afford it, she couldn't get them out of her office fast enough - she practically pushed them out of the door.

To cut a long story short, they managed to scrape the money together for one round of IVF by borrowing from family, and using the small amount of money they had saved for a rainy day.

The first cycle of IVF was unsuccessful and, after they had recovered from the disappointment, they decided to take out a loan to cover another round. Jim was hesitant to do it at first, but Anna was desperate for a child and Jim couldn't bare the thought of giving up hope.

So they took out a loan and paid for a second cycle of IVF. The disappointment when this round was unsuccessful was like a punch in the heart, it hit them hard and to the core.

But we all live on hope and Jim and Anna were no different. They couldn't bear the thought of giving up on their dream of a family. So they persuaded each other that it made sense to try one more round of IVF. After that, they said, they would call it a day and accept that it wasn't going to happen for them.

It was tough, but after few weeks of begging family, maxing out loans, and selling anything they didn't need, they finally had enough money for another round of IVF.

And it was the disappointment of the final round that left Jim sitting on the bathroom floor, holding Anna close to him as she sobbed uncontrollably in to her hands.

***

The months passed by and slowly things started to return to normal. Normal to the outside world anyway, internally they were left with a wound that ached anytime they were alone with their thoughts.

After a few months, the pain had healed enough that they began to discuss their options. Basically it came down to two choices; adoption, or surrogacy. They initially wanted to go down the surrogacy route, but after making a few enquiries they realised that the market price for a surrogate was $12k-20k - a sum that they could only dream of affording.

And so with a heavy heart they started the long and painful process of adoption.

The first meeting with the adoption agency went smoothly enough, until they got to the section on 'Financial standing'. Jim felt his stomach sink as the Adoption Officer went through their finances with obvious disappointment.

The meeting ended abruptly with Adoption Officer telling them that they would need to improve their financial standing and get out of debt before they could apply for adoption.

They walked out of her office with the now familiar feeling of deep and painful disappointment.

"I'm just going to go and freshen up" Anna said flatly, trying to hide the tears which were forming in her eyes.

Jim's heart broke for the thousandth time. He wanted to say something uplifting.

Anything that would make give her hope, but all he could manage was a thin smile before she disappeared quickly into the bathroom.

Jim sat down in the waiting room and nursed the numb weight off shock that sat in his stomach, which he knew would turn into sadness over the next few days. 'Why did it have to be like this?' he asked the world in general. His eyes stared forwards at the waiting room notice board which was filled with leaflets and brochures about adoption and fertility support.

'Parasites' Jim thought darkly. The whole industry fed off hope. Hope that he was now paying interest on at 15.6% every single month.

His eyes wandered aimlessly over the leaflets. 'Does life feel hopeless? Turn to God and find true happiness' he read. Jim felt the anger burning inside him, 'God?' he thought, 'Fuck him!'. 'What kind of God would put people through such misery?'.

Then his eyes fell on a small and crumpled piece of paper pinned to the board and partially covered by the religious leaflet. He stood up and moved the leaflet so that he could see the whole note.

'Don't give up hope - take a chance on surrogacy success for only $150 per time. Call (555) 651 5433 now to find out more'

Probably a scam he thought.

"What's that?" Anna asked from beside him making him jump.

"Nothing" Jim said, "Probably just a scam"

But scams are made for desperate people and Anna was intrigued. She took her phone out of her handbag and took a photo of the note.

Jim nearly said something, but he saw the look on Anna's face and thought better of it.

***

Jim didn't think anything more of the note until a week later when Anna walked up behind him and slid her arms around his waist. She hugged him from behind and started to kiss his neck slowly. As she kissed him, he felt her hands unfastening his belt. She let his trousers drop to the floor and grabbed his cock gently.

Without saying a word, she turned him around, and Jim saw that she was wearing one of the outfits that drove him crazy. Black leather knee high boots which accentuated her long, slender legs. A little black dress that was so short and tight that you could almost see the bottom of her perfect, round ass if you walked behind her. He felt a rush of excitement when we realised that she wasn't wearing a bra. The dress accentuated her long line of cleavage, and its thin material meant that her nipples were clearly visible.

"Oh wow" he said in awe, "You look... incredible"

Anna blushed but didn't reply, instead she dropped to her knees, and pushed his semi-hard cock into her mouth, and then gave a second push to force the end of his cock down her throat and stayed like that until her eyes started to water and she released him suddenly, letting saliva and mucus run down her chin.

She deepthroated his cock a few more times - taking his length deep into her throat, holding it until the last minute, and then releasing suddenly with a flood of saliva, over and over again.

Jim couldn't believe his luck, Anna hadn't done anything like this for years. He looked down and enjoyed the image of his prim and proper wife acting like such a whore, streams of saliva dripping from her mouth on to her dress and tits.

She would never admit it, he thought, but Jim knew that there was a side to Anna that longed to be treated like a fuck toy.

It had been a while since they had been intimate and this unexpected treat felt incredible. Too incredible. Jim tried to fight the impending orgasm, desperate to enjoy the unexpected pleasure as much as possible, but the stimulation was just too much and after a few minutes he grabbed her head and starting fucking her mouth desperately as his cock exploded with cum, spraying load after load down her throat.

It took a moment to recover. His legs felt like jelly as the waves of pleasure faded away gently. After a moment Anna stood up and smiled sweetly at him. Jim returned her smiled and pulled her close to him, keen to repay the favour.

"Wow" he said whispered quietly, his face close to hers as they stared into each others eyes.

Anna's smile turned mischievous "Did you like that?" she asked in a voice like honey.

"It was... amazing" said Jim.

"Good" said Anna.

They stood in silence for a moment until Jim leaned in to kiss her. He expected to feel her warm lips greet his, but instead his lips just kissed the air in front of her face. Anna had smoothly dodged the kiss and gave a small laugh at Jim's confused face.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something actually" said Anna, her voice still sounding as light and cheerful as sunshine.

Jim's brow furrowed, 'this doesn't sound good' he thought.

"Yes?" he asked with one eyebrow raised, "About what you little succubus?".

"Oh don't be like that" she laughed, "This is completely unrelated to... that" Anna replied as she nodded her head vaguely to his cock.

"Ok" said Jim, "So what's up?"

"Well... you remember the other day, at the adoption agency, there was that note with the phone number on?"

Jim nodded, "Yes?"

Anna hurried on like she was in a rush to get the words out, "Well, I called the number..."

Jim started to speak but Anna hurried on before he could interrupt, "Just hear me out darling. I spoke to a man called Richard who said he runs a very unorthodox fertility and surrogacy service".

Anna paused hesitantly as Jim just frowned and repeated her words slowly, "A very... unorthodox... fertility and surrogacy service..."

"Yes" said Anna abruptly, "That's what he said. And it is Jim, it really is... unorthodox"

"Well how unorthodox are we talking Anna?" Jim asked in a more serious voice.

"Well, he called it 'Homotactus statistically improved fertility'..." Anna looked uncertain, as if she was wondering how to say the next part.

"And... well basically... it means... it means... having sex with a woman who is super fertile to get them pregnant so we can have a baby"

Jim stared at Anna blankly. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Anna took a deep breath, and then words started tumbling out quickly, "Look, I know it sounds insane, but I really really want to give it a go Jim. It could be our only chance... and... and... it's cheap, really cheap... only £150 per try, and he says it has a really high chance of success."

Jim started to say "Are you..." but Anna quickly talked over him, "And... he's so confident that it will work that he promised to refund the money if it isn't successful - that's how confident he is of success Jim!"

Anna was looking at him with a slightly manic look in her eyes.

Jim was clearly struggling with the idea, "Do you mean to say... that you want me to have sex with another woman... in the hope that she will get pregnant, and we can have a baby?"

Tears were forming in Anna's eyes, "Please Jim, try to understand... this could be my only chance to be a mother... our only chance to be parents..."

***

Jim rang the doorbell and felt a surge of nerves as he did so. Anna, stood next to him and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He felt like he was in a dream, it was all just so surreal. Some husbands had fantasies of sleeping with other women, but not Jim. He loved his wife and hated the thought of betraying their marriage vows.

Anna was all he ever needed he thought as he looked at her. He knew he was punching well above his weight with her, but she didn't seem to realise how hot she actually was. He was a solid 7/10 but Anna was a 10.

They had spent hours and hours talking things through, so much so that Jim just wanted to get it over and done with now. He had had a sleepless night worrying about it - What if he couldn't perform? What if Anna couldn't handle it after all? What if it broke their marriage and they could never recover?

Anna had assured him over and over again that she wanted him to go through with it. But it had consumed their lives over the last few weeks, if they weren't talking about it then you could guarantee that Jim was thinking about it.

There was one nagging doubt that he couldn't get rid of - £150 to have sex with a stranger and then carry a child for them was ridiculously cheap. So cheap that he fully expected to arrive at a crack den with some desperate woman just wanting to get it over and done with. But that was the opposite of what they had found. The house on the address they had been given was in the rich area of the city, and it looked very expensive.

Jim looked around him at the immaculate gardens and noticed three men, all about the same age as him, hard at work gardening. He got the strange feeling that they were trying not to look at him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a lock being undone on the other side of the front door. The door opened to reveal a butler who gave them a servile smile and said "You must be Anna" he said warmly, and motioned for them to enter.

Jim held out his hand to introduce himself but the butler completely ignored him.

The butler showed them through to the lounge, which was expensively decorated and lavishly furnished. It formed part of the huge entrance hall to the house. They settled in to a large, comfy couch while the butler went off to get them some drinks.

Jim and Anna sat silently on the couch together feeling apprehensive.

Suddenly a loud, deep voice behind them made them jump, "You must be Anna!"

The voice startled them and they span round to see a tall, handsome man smiling at them. Jim held out his hand awkwardly and started to say hello, but the man didn't even seem to notice him. He stepped past Jim and took Anna's hand gently, "Wow" he said, "You are a really beauty".

Jim smirked at Anna, if there was one thing she hated, it was sleazy men hitting on her. But Anna didn't notice his smirk, she didn't seem to notice anything at all except the man in front of her. She giggled like a little girl and said "Thank you!".

The man held out his hand and she shook it lightly, "My name is Richard" he said confidently. Anna blushed and just said "Nice to meet you".

Jim stood awkwardly next to them as they smiled at each other, until they were all interrupted by a quiet voice behind them "Excuse me, your drinks". They turned to see the butler who proceeded to set the drinks down on a side table next to the couch and then hurry away quickly. As he reached the other side of the room Richard's booming voice rang out - "Stop!". The butler stopped instantly, and turned around with his head bowed submissively.

"Come here" Rich commanded. The butler hurried over, "Yes sir?" he said nervously.

"What is that?" Richard asked, pointing to Anna's glass of water.

The butler swallowed anxiously, "Uh it's, uh... water sir?"

"Yes" said Richard in a low voice, "And where's the ice?!" he shouted the last bit causing Jim and Anna to jump in surprise.

The butler started to apologise, not daring to lift his eyes from the floor to look at Richard.

Richard stared at him for a moment and then said "Give me the glass". The butler obeyed immediately, Richard threw the glass against the wall on the other side of the room where it smashed into tiny pieces.

"Now get a fresh glass and tidy that mess up" he said and the butler hurried off

again.

Jim stared in shocked silence while Anna started to talk quickly "That really wasn't necessary, I like water without..." but Richard cut her off, his voice suddenly smooth and calm again "Of course you would say that, you are kind and compassionate, but the strong don't suffer the weak."

A soft, ethereal voice floated from across the huge entrance hall - "Richard, darling,

I hope you're looking after our guests?".

Footsteps echoed around the entrance hall until suddenly a woman appeared on the other side of the room, from one of the many corridors which led out into the depths of the mansion.

Jim felt an almost magnetic pull locking his eyes on the woman as she walked towards them. He suddenly felt hot and dizzy, his pulse started to race and he wondered if he was having a heart attack.

But the feeling became more familiar as the surge of warmth ran through his body and collected in his cock. It was lust like he had never experienced in his life, desire so strong that he didn't think it was possible to feel anything so strongly.

His cock pulsed as his erection strained against the front of his pants - an involuntary response as his eyes took in the woman who was walking towards him. She walked slowly, swaying her hips in a way that drew him wild.

She looked and felt like the embodiment of sexual desire. His eyes followed the curve of her hips to her tiny waist. Her slender waist exploded upwards into a huge pair of breasts which were straining to escape from her her tight dress.

He rose to stand up as she approached without even being aware of doing so. Then he waited awkwardly, unsure whether to hold out his hand to shake hers, or bow down before her and beg her to let him worship her.

He did neither, but just continued to stare at her in silence as she approached.

When she reached them, her face broke in to a kind, warm smile.

"You must be Anna" she said looking at Anna.

Anna did not appear to be experiencing the same thing that Jim was. She smiled politely and shook her hand, "Yes I'm Anna" she said.