My birthday falls on Valentine's Day and so presents from my husband, Steve, tend to fall into the "romantic/risquΓ© genre." This year, Steve knew that he would be out of town, so he craftily enlisted the aid of my favorite work husband, Mark, to deliver the presents, and bring me coffee in bed-a family tradition.
Mark is rather gorgeous, but we spend so much time together, each on headsets, one of us at my kitchen table, the other in the living room, that I had come to regard him as family. I had pretty much stopped noticing his rich, dark chocolate skin, so smooth and youthful. His graceful evenly muscled swimmer's build, his kind eyes and luscious-looking mouth. Yeah, I paid zero attention to all that. I was to turn 52, and he was 28. I regarded him as my high functioning, Stanford-educated son. Which made what followed that day a little like incest...Interracial incest.
Mark had accepted a job as a software designer after grad school, and then the pandemic hit, and the company rescinded their offer. He was forced to settle for an IT support job with the outfit that I had been working for years. I had been doing the WFH thing way before 2020, so had ensured that our little house had top-notch connectivity, enough bandwidth to launch rockets in Korea as my husband liked to say... So, on a group zoom after Mark was hired, I learned that he was in an apartment downtown, so walkable from my house, and that the internet sucked there. He found the job a real challenge for purely mechanical, technical reasons. I pinged him in a private chat and introduced myself, gave him my address and invited him to join me here and see if he wanted to work from MY home instead of his. He walked over that very afternoon, and we hit it off. I hadn't realized, obviously, how tall he was in the little zoom screen, like a foot and half more than my five foot nothing. I came to the States in my 20's so I still sound like a gal from Donegal, and he came from Angola, by way of the "Texas ole patch" as he liked to drawl. So we both had the "accented immigrant" thing in common, too. Frankly, I loved having company. Sometimes when Steve was home, he would make us lunch and ply us with coffee and his famous baked goods and joking that we were "a right United Nations." So, that's why Mark had the access code to our gate and a key to our house, and his easy friendship with Steve was why Steve enlisted him to help with my birthday surprise.
As I mentioned, when Steve is home (he mostly isn't-doing "consulty" things all over the place, even right through the Pandemic), he always brings me coffee in bed. We get up crazy early but enjoy just lying in bed together snuggling and sipping. So this year, I drowsily heard the door open, then the kettle hiss. I really wasn't awake, just wallowing in that delightful, its-Saturday-I- don't-have-to-get-up- feeling. When Mark made his way into the still dark bedroom and gently set a mug of coffee on my nightstand, I roused a little and looked up at him looming over me.
Quietly he said "Happy birthday, sunshine"
"Thank you!" I croaked. "What a wonderful surprise! Did you bring a cup for you?" as I propped myself against the headboard and reached for my mug.
"Uh, no. I was instructed to deliver this, he gestured to a red -wrapped box that he had placed at the foot of the bed..."
"Go get a mug and come sit with me," I commanded.
My phone rang just as Mark returned with his cup, I gestured to him to sit beside me, as Steve bellowed birthday greetings on speaker. He thanked Mark for playing delivery/barista and then apologized for having to run off. He had hoped, he explained, to have Mark facetime me while I tried on the presents, but he had to "race, kisses, talk soon..."
Mark said, "That guy just has one gear, you know, HIGH" I laughed and agreed fondly, that he was rather like a big kid.
"Well, that saves me a rather awkward request...he wanted me to record you prancing around in whatever is in the box. And I gathered it wasn't church clothes"
"Well," I said drily, "glad to save you the agony of watching granny in garters."
I reached for the box which necessitated climbing out from under the covers, vaguely aware that a non-husband was seeing me now in my nightie, climbed back into bed and opened the box. I reached over and turned on the lamp and suggested that Mark film as I held up each part of the enclosed ensemble. A lovely pair of red heels, with a delicate little strap and side buckle, a little red dress with a zipper back. Sheer white thigh-highs, a wisp of a thong and a suggestion of red lacy bra. Mark blushed adorably as I held up the last two.
"Ok, then, I'll leave you to it," he said as he bent down to kiss my forehead.
I reached up and clasped his hands, said "Don't go, pleeeease? I think it would be fun for Steve to see me in the outfit. Then you can piss off" I paused. My eyes were watching his and it was apparent that his eyes were not focused on my face. I realized that the bedside lamp perfectly illuminated my breasts, almost like they were spotlit for display. I was wearing a pale pink nightie, and my nipples could be seen casting shadows where they tented the filmy fabric. "Never mind. I'll just take selfies as I get dressed. Or I'll get dressed and then prop up the camera and video getting undressed for him. Anyway, not your problem. Run along. You probably have 100 women lined up today, studly."
We were still holding hands, and he was still not gone.
"Uh. I guess it would be better to have a photographer for that. Its awkward trying to do both and get good angles"
"YAY", I used him to pull myself out of bed and gave him a big hug, slightly aware that I was squishing my boobs against his broad chest and tippy toed up to kiss him on the lips. I went into the en suite to change, not bothering to close the privacy curtain. I could see him in the mirror, sitting on the foot of the bed, his phone directed at me...I stepped mostly out of sight around the partition wall and pulled on the underwear and stockings, the shoes. Pulled off my nightie, climbed into the bra. I stepped out so that he had a side view of me, then dropped the dress over my head. I would get him to zip me up, I decided, but after I put on makeup. I stepped into full view in front of the sink and gave my red bob a quick brush, then leaned in to apply lipstick, lip liner, and do my eyes.
"Do my zipper, please?"
He approached and with a little fumbling got it done.
"Do you have pearls? He asked, his voice a delicious low rumble in my ear. I reached for the black velvet bag and handed it to him, indicating that he fasten them around my throat. I had goosebumps and was vaguely aware that he was ever-so slightly pressing me against the counter.
I tried to keep the stammer out of my voice as I said: "I think it would be fun to shoot me coming through the door in my coat, as though I had been out for drinks or whatever...I'll have a glass of wine in my hand as I shed the coat and uh, he can see the outfit. Steve can see the outfit." Deliberately trying to remind myself that I was married.
Sidebar: Steve probably wanted just this awkward situation to arise. He loves to intimate that Mark and I spend the days soulfully staring into each other's eyes and giving each other massages and shit. Steve has cuckhold fantasies. Weird. I know.
Back to the present, Mark said he would open a bottle. It was 5:35 am, still dark outside. Sure, I'll have a glass of wine! It's my birthday!
I put on my long black coat, stepped onto the porch and when Mark was in position, opened the door and stepped inside. I tossed my coat onto the couch in the living room and went to where a stemmed glass had been poured for me. Mark had artfully selected a place in the hall outside our bedroom that had a full-length mirror, the wine set on a little table that tended to accumulate keys and phones. I took a hearty swallow of the wine and was gratified to notice that Mark was working on a glass of whiskey. 05:45 am!
My new dress was slightly stretchy, fell just above my knees. It was moderately low cut and supported by straps over the shoulder.
Leaning against the bedroom doorway, the mussed bed looming suggestively behind, I took another swallow of wine, my glass now empty and handed it to him for refill.
"Now what?" I asked quietly.
"Uh, now I switch to stills. I was shooting vid before. Let's try bending down to unbuckle a shoe. Facing me. Now on the other one, back toward me. From this angle I saw him in the hall mirror again and saw a generous display of my own cleavage in the mirror.
"Straighten up," he said. "I need to adjust the dress."
Gripping the material at the hips he rucked the fabric up so that it was much shorter, and leaving one hand on my hip, gently pressed between my shoulder blades to have me bend over again, repeating the unbuckling shoe motion.
"That's good, really good, but I want to see the tops of the hose, so do you want to pull it up a little higher and we'll try again?"
I did want. I was starting to get aroused. No, hell, I WAS aroused. I picked up my glass for another slug and watching him in the mirror began to pull my dress up more. Deliberately, I inched it up, waiting for a sign from him that that will do, pig...In the mirror, I saw the tops of my hose exposed and still he gave no sign, but just watched me through his viewfinder, snicking away. When my thong hove into view I stopped and slowly bent over, legs straight.
"How's that?" I breathed.
"Perfect. Now do that thing where you take the bra off but leave the dress on."
I did.
"Turn to face me. Drape the bra over a finger and take a sip of wine, looking straight at me."
I did.
"Bend forward, with your head up, still looking at me."
I did.
He paused for a moment then, thinking.
"Can you unzip the dress?"
I did.
"One strap down...Now the other."
"Bend forward."
I bent forward as directed; my eyes locked on the camera's lens.