The Proposal

Immersion Playground

Book #1: The Proposal

Chapter 1

Giselle Chamfer and Charlie Rose sit comfortably in Giselle's bright and airy kitchen, a glass of white wine in front of each of them as they engage in a bit of girl talk. Giselle finds Charlie refreshing because she's everything Giselle is not.

Giselle is quiet and reserved around everyone but her husband and closest friends, and chooses her words with care. Average in height and fair complected, with a trim athletic build, Giselle looks ten years younger than her forty-five years, and her shoulder-length, polished copper-colored hair is yet to show the first hint of grey. Charlie once called the way Geselle presents herself, especially when she is wearing her stylish reading glasses,

the sexy librarian.

Coming from Charlie, the comment made her feel good about herself.

Where Giselle tends to be quiet and reserved, Charlie approaches everything she does with boundless enthusiasm and is as apt as not to say the first thing that pops into her mind. Sometimes with hilarious results. At five-foot eight-inches tall, she is three inches taller than Giselle, and while Giselle has enough curves to leave no doubt she is all woman, Charlie is a bombshell. A retired pinup model, she still models on occasion, but now she spends most of her time managing a small stable of other models from her home office. At thirty-six, she has lost none of her charms, and with her long dark hair normally tied up in a ponytail and large dark eyes, she knows and enjoys the effect she has on men. While Giselle tends to dress somewhat conservatively, Charlie normally wears a light-colored men's style shirt, unbuttoned just enough to reveal the curves of her ample breasts, loose shorts, and sneakers... the relaxed and casual sexiness of a woman at peace with herself.

They've only known each other a few years, but the bond between them is rapidly growing deeper and stronger. Giselle has other friends, but she doesn't feel as close to them as she does to Charlie. Rick, Giselle's husband, had introduced her to his surrogate family, Todd and Charlene—Charlie—Rose, over a quiet dinner not long after they started dating. She'd been apprehensive about meeting them, feeling like she was being taken home to meet his family. In a sense, she supposed, she had been, but Charlie's rapier wit and Todd's easy charm had quickly put her at ease and she'd taken an immediate liking to them.

Giselle and Charlie have been enjoying their afternoon together immensely. Todd and Rick had left an hour before to play tennis, leaving them alone to gossip. Normally Giselle and Charlie would be on the court with them, either playing in a foursome with their husbands or playing as singles. Not this time, however. Earlier in the week, during a game with Rick, Giselle had taken a bad step while racing for a ball and is still a bit hobbled by a sore ankle. Rather than risk injuring her ankle further, she had elected not to play and give her ankle a chance to heal. When Giselle declined to play Charlie promptly announced she would stay home and keep her company rather than force someone to look for a pickup game.

Rick and Todd have played tennis together for years, but Charlie has taken up the game only after being introduced to it by Giselle. Giselle is a good tennis player, the best among the four, and regularly beats them all in one-on-one games. With her coaching, Charlie's game has improved to the point that she can now compete to win against the men, something Giselle finds immensely satisfying.

Giselle has just finished regaling Charlie with the story of how, the night before, as she and Rick were enjoying a Mexican dinner out, the restaurant ceiling had fallen in. The falling debris and water had missed Rick but the impact of the soggy mass on the floor had showered him in air conditioning condensate and saturated ceiling tiles. Not wanting to ruin the interior of their car, he had stripped down to his boxers in the parking lot before getting into their antique Aston Martin. Charlie finds the thought of Rick stripping out of his pants in public particularly amusing because, as much as she likes Rick, she thinks him to be terribly uptight.

Suddenly Giselle becomes serious. "Charlie, may I ask you something?" she asks.

"Of course," Charlie giggles, but sobers after seeing Giselle's expression. "Anything you like."

"How many times a week are you and Todd intimate?"

Charlie frowns. She didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't this. "Uhhh... three or four times a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Giselle responds cryptically.

Charlie has no idea where this sudden turn in the conversation came from, or where it is going, so she treads carefully. "How about you and Rick?"

"About the same, I guess. Do you think that four times a week is normal after you have been married as long as you and Todd have?" Though younger, Charlie and Todd have been married fifteen years, compared to Giselle's and Rick's two.

"Uhhh..." Charlie is stuck for an answer. "I don't know. I've only been married this long once." As soon as the words leave her mouth, she regrets them. "Oh! I'm sorry, Giselle! I didn't mean—"

Giselle cuts her off. "No, no. It's alright. I was just wondering how long this level of intimacy will last."

Charlie's voice becomes hard. "Has Rick done something? Because if he has, I will

personally

rip his dick off and feed it to him."

Giselle giggles a bit. She believes that Charlie can, and will, do it too. "No, nothing like that. It's just that we just celebrated our second anniversary. This was about the time that Jonathan started having his affairs."

Charlie assumes that Jonathan must have been Giselle's first husband. "Okay... so?"

"Jonathan was so blasé about it too, it was almost like he didn't care if I found out. I just don't want the same thing to happen with Rick."

Charlie waits to see if Giselle will go on, giving her the time she needs to compose her thoughts. Finally, she does.

"I watch you and Todd, and I see a couple that seem so in love." Giselle smiles again, a little sadly this time. "Rick and I, we're kind of like that now, but I am wondering how long that might last. I wonder if he'll get tired of me and leave... or begin to shut me out." Giselle doesn't understand where this melancholy is coming from, but she has been struggling with it all week. Charlie always seems to have sound advice and she is hoping that talking to her can pull her out of her funk.

Charlie has heard enough. "Listen! Don't do this to yourself. Yes, after fifteen years of marriage I feel like our love life is pretty good. Better than most, I suspect, but even for us it isn't like it was. When we were first married, back in our twenties, we were like rabbits, but I don't think any marriage stays like that for long. I think you're worrying for nothing. Rick adores you. He would do

anything

for you. If you asked him to take you in the middle of a crowded restaurant, he would... and I don't see that changing for a long, long time." She acts as if she has more to say, but then snaps her jaws shut.

Giselle sits quietly, contemplating what Charlie has said. "You really think so?" she asks quietly.

"Giselle... I

know

so. Remember, I've known Rick a lot longer than you have. I knew him back when he was bringing around one bimbo after another. And let me let you in on a little secret. When he was with all those other women he was never satisfied. He was always looking for someone else. He hid it pretty well, but every now and then I would catch that look as he watched another woman walk by. But he is different now. Oh, he still looks because," Charlie bobs her head quickly side to side while scrunching her face and rolling her eyes, "that's what men do. They look. I don't guess they can help it. And that look of lust, of desire, he still has it... but now it is focused on you. I don't believe he ever crossed the line, never slept around on who he was seeing at the time. But now I don't think anyone could tempt him across."

Giselle sits and stares at Charlie. Charlie simply looks back, then as casually as if they had been discussing the weather, takes a sip of her wine. "A crowded restaurant, huh?" she finally asks.

The dark mood broken, Charlie begins to giggle. "Well... you might have to ask him really, really nice."

Giselle continues to stare into Charlie's large, dark eyes, thinking about what she has said. She knows Rick loves her as much as she loves him, so why is she worried? Charlie's right, she's being stupid. Jumping at shadows. On a sudden impulse, she accesses the net with no more thought than she would use to start speaking and sends Charlie a link to a file on their server. She watches as Charlie defocuses to access the link that arrived in her mind like a sudden thought, and then comes back.

"I want you to do something for me," Giselle says. "I want you to experience that and tell me what you think."

"An immersion?" Charlie asks, having examined the link. "An immersion of what?"

Immersion is a relatively new form of entertainment that is just coming to market. Immersion is an artificial dream state that disconnects the person from reality and, while in the immersion state, supplies stimuli that the brain interprets as sensations. Anything that could be seen, touched, smelled... anything the senses detect can be captured and reproduced perfectly in the immersion state. While she has experienced an immersion before she doesn't know anyone that has a private copy of one. The technology to produce one isn't readily available, but of course, if anyone has one, it'ill be Rick and Giselle.

"Something Rick and I recorded a few years back." Giselle says with a small smile, wanting to have someone validate her feelings, but still nervous about sharing something so special, even with Charlie.

"Oooooh... a mystery. Okay, where's your couch?" Charlie asks, though she knows perfectly well where it is. She rises, wineglass in hand, to walk to the family room to get comfortable for the immersion.

Giselle gracefully takes the glass and puts it back on the table. "You won't need that. It'll get warm."

Charlie quickly checks the time on the immersion. "It's two hours and four minutes long!" she exclaims. This is by far the longest immersion she has ever heard of. Most immersions are short, just a few minutes in length.

"Yes, I know."

Charlie moves into the other room and settles into the couch as if to nap. The immersion state suppresses nerve impulses so that during an immersion, normal activities such as walking, talking, or eating all leave the body in a still state. But like a natural dream state, powerful impulses leak through causing the body to twitch. "But Rick and Todd will..."

"Shhh..." Giselle interrupts. "You have time. They'll be gone for at least another two or three hours."

Charlie is intrigued by Giselle's unwillingness to give any hint to the content of the immersion, but she trusts her, so she starts the immersion. She is under only a few seconds before popping back out. "Are you sure you sent the right link?"

"I'm sure. But since you're back, forward your pings to me. I'll cover them. Promise me you'll experience it all the way through."

Now Charlie is

really

intrigued. She gives a curt nod in promise, then forwards her pings—thought controlled communication portals embedded on the same chip that provides the immersion experience via the Neural Network—to Giselle. Now she won't be disturbed by someone trying to reach her intruding on her thoughts, and settles back into the couch, getting comfortable.

"Into the rabbit hole," she says as she begins the immersion.

Giselle watches Charlie relax on the couch as the immersion takes over. While Charlie is under, she lowers herself into her favorite chair and, with her glass of wine at hand, tucks her legs under her and settles in to watch.

***

Charlie finds herself walking along a deserted beach with Rick. Before she gives herself over fully to the immersion she knows it's actually Giselle that is holding his hand, but she can feel his strong grip, her arm wrapping though his as she relives Giselle's experience through the immersion. As Charlie lets herself go, giving herself over fully to the immersion, she becomes Giselle, the woman deeply in love with the man she is walking with. She occasionally brushes her copper colored hair from her eyes as they stroll along, the warm, wet sand feeling delicious on her feet, an anticipation making the walk with him even more pleasurable. She finds herself stealing glances at him, admiring the strength of his body as a glow suffuses her.

Standing six foot, two inches, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a heavy build, Rick isn't ripped like a bodybuilder. His passion for tennis keeps him lean and fit, but his large arms, broad chest, and muscular legs give away his natural, easy power. They also make him look damn good in swim trunks and a loose, open shirt.

They turn away from the water's edge and head farther up onto the beach to where four torches are flickering in the wind. Below the torches is a light dinner of spiced meat, cubes of cheese, fresh fruit, and a bottle of wine. It is all beautifully presented on a large red blanket spread over the sand, the blanket held down with a large smooth stone on each corner. A wicker basket contains more of the same, along with plates, utensils, and most importantly, wine glasses for two.

"Oh, Rick, it is lovely!" she exclaims. He says nothing, settling onto the blanket and reaching for her. She curls into his waiting embrace, his chest warm to her back, his arms circling around her waist as he holds her gently to him.

She feels him move, then his lips on her neck, their touch sending a small jolt of pleasure ricocheting through her as he whispers into her ear. "I love you Giselle."

She positively purrs in pleasure, then, twisting her upper body around as much as possible, she whispers back. "I love you too." Then in a louder, more playful voice, "But before that, let's eat! I'm starved!" She pulls herself away from him and begins taking plates and glasses out of the basket, Rick laughing as he joins in to help.

The next hour is so romantic that heart melts. Oh yes, he is going to get something special tonight. They take turns feeding each other and nibbling on bites of cheese, meat, and fruit while sipping the very nice red wine. As much as she is enjoying the cheese and fruit, she is eating light to avoid feeling full; she has plans later and doesn't want to feel stuffed. They've had many lovely dinners, but never one in so romantic a location, with the ocean rolling in on the deserted beach and the lights of the California coast in the far distance.

After clearing away the dinner they lie back on the blanket. She lies on her back staring at the stars while he props on his elbow on her left, gently stroking her left breast with his free hand. The feel of his touch through her gauzy wrap and swimsuit is causing a deep and pleasant warmth to flow through her body. She closes her eyes, enjoying the spreading warmth.

"Giselle?" he asks quietly.

"Hmmm?" Charlie purrs.

"I want to ask you something."

Silly boy. At this moment she'd give him anything; he didn't have to ask. "Mmmm?" she purrs again. She feels his hand pull away, and then she opens her eyes as he takes her hands and gently pulls her into the sitting position. He reaches down and behind him, his hand coming back with a small black box. Seeing the box her heart almost stops and her breath hitches in her lungs.

He opens the box to display a diamond ring. The stone isn't large, but it is beautifully cut and set, sparkling in the dim torch light. "I know the stone isn't large, but it's perfect, flawless. Just as you are." He takes a deep breath. "Giselle Sheehy," he says, using her maiden name, "will you marry me?"

Charlie sits in stunned silence. This is so unexpected! She can't breathe, she can't think! Tears well in her eyes as she tries to speak, but finds she can't. Finally, her breathing starts as she feels her heart thudding in her chest. She tries to speak again but when the words won't come she throws her arms around him and pulls him tight. Finally the words and the tears come.

"Yes. Yes!" she cries, holding him tightly, as if her life depends on it. Gently he pulls away and, taking her left hand, slides the ring upon her finger.

She looks at the ring briefly, then pulls him to her once again, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you

soooo

much," she whispers in his ear. She holds him for a few moments, before she sniffs once and leans back, still holding tightly to him pulling him down upon her. He resists only enough to ensure the backward tumble is gentle. As his weight presses down on her, she tugs more fiercely still.

Rick pulls back, just a bit, and begins to kiss away the tracks of her tears with gossamer touches of his lips. Turning her head, she offers him her lip, which he takes, his kiss gentle, the merest brushing of his lips against hers. As her hands curl into his hair, pulling his mouth harder to hers, the kiss becomes deeper, more passionate, their tongues colliding in a ravenous embrace as she tastes a hint of the wine and fruit he has consumed.

She pushes him down, toward her breasts. He has put her in the mood with his gentle stroking of her breast and now, after his proposal, she wants him like she's never wanted anyone before. He moves, not to her breasts, but to her eyes, her cheeks, her ears. He nuzzles and licks her under her chin and her neck, gentle nips of his teeth causing electric flashes of pleasure to course through her. Desperate to feel his mouth on her nipples, she pushes him down again, but he refuses to be rushed as he continues his slow exploration of every curve of her neck and upper breast.

Taking matters into her own hands, Charlie pulls the straps of her one-piece bathing suit off her shoulders, then with a quick, lithe, movement, pulls the suit down to expose her breasts, the cooling night air causing her nipples to harden. He rises up and, taking her suit in hand, pulls it over her hips and casts it aside. He then unbuttons the last two buttons of his shirt, removes it, and tosses it onto her suit. Still on his knees, clad only in his swimming trunks, he looks at her, taking her in, a man about to claim that which he has won. She reaches for him, freely offering herself to him. He moves, placing both knees between her thighs and once again lowers himself onto her. He continues to cover her in gentle kisses, dragging his tongue slowly between her breasts, his saliva cooling her skin in sharp contrast to the heat of his breath.

Her passions are fully aflame now. Her knees pull up and her hips begin rocking of their own accord into his tight, firm stomach. As he moves down and begins kissing, biting, and sucking on her right breast, his hands join the fray. She pulls one of his hands to her mouth, sucking on two fingers, but he quickly removes them, seeking no pleasure other than what he is giving her. As his mouth devours one breast his hand teases the other with gentle kneads and pinches, before he switches, subjecting each breast to the sweet tortures the other has been enduring.

Rick's breathing is becoming hard and ragged, but he moves on slowly. Surrendering her breasts to what delights he can inflict with his hands, he moves down, but slowly, so slowly, subjecting every inch of her flesh between the rise of her breasts and the vee of her crotch to his gentle exploration. She is desperate for his touch upon her womanhood, his fingers, his mouth, his penis, it doesn't matter. She pushes him down, urging him on, but he continues his slow, maddening march. Failing there, she begins to pull him upwards, inviting him to join with her, but he refuses to be swayed from his goal... unless it is to drive her

insane

with desire. If that is his goal, he is nearly there.