Sweeter Than Roses

My jaw succumbed to gravity. "That's gross!" I stammered. "He's never asked for that! He's never even mentioned that! Who does that sort of thing?"

"I do that sort of thing," Elaine replied. "A couple times per week, when Donald comes home from work. He's always so happy to find me waiting at the front door, ready to unzip him. And he's never had to ask."

I pressed my lips together, unable to imagine myself doing such a thing. "I've never even heard of such things! Is this a new fad?"

Elaine shook her head. "The Beatles are a fad. Cocksucking was popular with the Greeks and Romans a couple thousand years ago, but I'm sure it's been practiced far longer."

"Really?" I half-gasped. "Who would have thought? Doesn't it, you know, taste like pee?"

Elaine smiled. "It's just skin. Sometimes there's a bit of briny flavor at first, but it wears off before you know it. And I'm sure I taste the same way now and then."

My eyes dropped to the young lady's hips. "You?" I asked. "He puts his mouth down there?"

"Nothing's better than a mouth down there," Elaine purred. "Russell never does that for you?"

"Of course not!"

"Why?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I didn't know anyone did it until five seconds ago."

"Suck your husband next chance you get," Elaine suggested. "Do it and see what happens."

"I'm not sure I can."

"Do you have a mouth?"

I nodded.

"Does Russell have a cock?"

"Yes!"

Elaine shrugged. "Then you can."

"I don't know..."

"... how?" Elaine finished my sentence, but not the way I would have. Smiling in an almost patronizing fashion, she shook her head. "Why don't you come over tomorrow? I'll show you."

I creased my brow. "Show me?"

Elaine's smile broadened as she nodded. "Yes, show you. What can it hurt to learn?"

My lips twitched. "Nothing, I guess."

"Good. But it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Can I call you when I'm ready?"

"Sure." I said, though I was anything but certain.

"You take the book of dreams," Elaine insisted, handing me the tome. "I have a feeling you may need it more than I will."

Several hours later, I ate with Russell and the kids as we began our evening routine. Throughout the meal my eyes kept wandering to his manhood. I tried to picture it in my mouth, but concluded at once that perhaps dinner with the family was the wrong time for imagining such things.

Still, I could think of little else for the remainder of the evening and all of the next morning as well, until the phone rang just before noon.

"Hello?" I answered.

"This is Elaine. Come over now."

I paused for a single deep breath. "Ok. I'll just get..."

"Now!" Elaine repeated, and hung up.

Less than a minute later, I scurried across the lawns in my housecoat with snow crunching beneath my slippers. Elaine opened the door before I even had a chance to knock. "Come on," she instructed, looking past me toward the street.

I hurried inside, following my hostess once again to her bedroom. She walked to her open closet door. "In here."

"What?" I queried. "In the closet?"

"Yes," Elaine said. "I've got a chair for you, behind the dresses. I tested it myself. If I'm kneeling here," she pointed at the floor, "and Donald is facing there," she turned to the corner, "then you should be able to see everything."

"Donald?"

"Yes. My husband. Who did you think I was going to suck?"

My meager mental faculties took several seconds to assimilate what she had in mind. "You want me to watch?!"

Elaine nodded. "I did say I was going to show you!"

My jaw dropped, but I was unable to compose a sentence before we heard the door open on the ground floor, followed by a masculine voice. "Honey!"

"Hurry!" Elaine whispered. "Get in the closet!"

Without awaiting reply, my hostess departed, leaving me alone with a stomach that wanted to be somewhere else every bit as much as I did. Unable to find another viable option, I crept into the shadows and hid behind her clothes.

Pulling the door until but a sliver of light remained, I determined to huddle behind the dresses and not watch, but my resolve wavered when the first shadow crossed the fissure.

"Not today," Elaine announced in a giddy voice. She dropped to her knees but a few feet in front of the closet. Her eyes darted to me for a split second before jumping upward to her husband. "You've been a good little worshipper lately and you get a special treat."

Donald's form entered my narrow field of view, moving to stand before his wife. I inhaled a crisp gasp as I saw the bulge in his trousers and realized I could soon see much more if I but broke my own promise.

Elaine reached for his belt and began licking her lips as she unfastened the trousers. With a start, I caught my own tongue doing the same thing! I forced my mouth closed and scolded myself for being so decadent.

Mrs. Stanley cut her eyes again toward the closet as she freed her husband, keeping her steely orbs locked on me while she pulled his curving salmon-colored shaft from its cloth prison. I inhaled a quick breath and held it.

The corners of Elaine's mouth curved upward just a shade. Forming a fist about the base, she squeezed. His cock swelled, turning a darker color. Ripples erupted over its surface and the helmet-like crown bulged.

Turning her eyes from me, she ran her splayed tongue the length of the underside before steering his rigid shaft horizontal and plunging her lips over it.

My jaw fell as I watched my neighbor's lips slide up and down her husband's member. Her cheeks shrank, then puffed, then shrank again in a steady rhythm that matched the bobbing of her head. Without thinking, I clenched my thighs together, sandwiching my palms. Glancing down at the warmth the edge of my hands found, I was forced to admit that I found the lurid display far more refreshing rather than revolting.

"Oh," Mr. Stanley moaned. "That's so good."

Elaine paused just long enough to purr, "I just love sucking your cock," before resuming her oral nurturing, proceeding with more vigor and noise. Her free hand glided beneath her skirt. My own loins clenched and I squeezed my hands tighter between my thighs, but it did little to stop my squirming.

Soon her slurping and his moaning reached a crescendo, composing a bawdy, seductive symphony.

Looking down toward the hand still tucked between my thighs, I discovered something had joined the warmth against the edge of my hand. I relaxed my legs and allowed my fingers access to the moistness therein. I gasped at finding myself so sodden.

My hand crept upward to my nose. I closed my eyes and inhaled, sampling the scent of my own excitement. How long had it been since I had savored that aroma? Too long, I am sure- yet the fragrance seemed fresh in my mind.

I opened my eyes feeling younger than I could ever remember.

Mr. Stanley reclaimed my attention with a long, low moan, almost a whimper. His hips began to buck in an irregular rhythm and his legs wobbled as if he might collapse. Within his wife's hair, the man's fingers tightened. His body was gripped by tremors and a series of gasps escaped his mouth.

Elaine did not miss a beat, continuing to pump and suckle while his thick rod pulsed within her mouth.

"Ok, ok," Mr. Stanley gasped. "Stop. That's enough."

Elaine plunged her lips over the better part of his spent shaft, her cheeks flexing as she increased her sucking.

"Stop!" Donald cried. His fingers relaxed within her hair and he began to push against her scalp. "You know it gets ticklish!"

After several seconds of such struggle, Elaine removed her mouth and flashed a closed-lipped grin. "I know."

Mr. Stanley sighed and shook his head. "You are so naughty."

She stood. Wrinkling her own nose, she rubbed the tip against her husband's. "And you love it."

A shiver traversed Mr. Stanley's body. "I do," he said.

"I do too," Elaine purred. She put her forefinger to the bridge of his nose and drew the digit along the length. "The sooner you get back to work, the sooner you can be home again."

Mr. Stanley retrieved his shorts and trousers in a motion, fastening the buckle as his wife gave him an affectionate peck.

"Guess I better go then," he said.

"See you soon," Elaine whispered.

"Love you." Donald planted a kiss on his wife's cheek and headed out of the room.

"Love you too," Elaine called after him. She kept her eyes fixed where he had departed until the sound of the front door closing reached our ears. Only then did she venture to my hiding place. Opening the closet door, she leaned upon the edge. Her grin became a broad smile. "That's all there is to it," she announced.

Quite certain that it could not be as simple as my mentor had made it appear, I emerged from my hiding place, stood, and straightened my housecoat. My lips twitched as I tried to sort through my list of questions. "So you enjoy that?" I asked at last.

Elaine removed her weight from the door and stood. "Of course."

I nodded as I breathed. "And you kept going until he, uh, you know?"

"Of course," Elaine said. "So will you."

"Me?"

"You know you want to."

I swallowed, then tongued my lips. "Does it taste bad?"

Elaine moved a little closer. "I don't think so."

"What does it taste like?"

"You tell me."

As I saw where her mouth was bound, my own fell open, both in surprise and in acceptance. Our lips embraced. My mind churned. Was I cheating on my husband? Was this worse than cheating with a man? Did I care?

"I feel weird," I whispered as soon as my lips were free.

"I know," Elaine said. "I feel the same way about you."

I gulped. That's not what I had meant, but after searching my feelings for mere moments, I realized Elaine was in essence correct- I did find her attractive, alluring, maybe more. That was what felt so weird. My head moved in a slow shake. "I'm just not sure this is ok."

"What?"

"You. Me," I said. "Two women. You know."

Elaine shrugged. "Why wouldn't it be ok?"

"The Bible?"

"I thought you didn't put much stock in old books?"

My jaw mouth fell open. "But it's the Bible!"

Elaine smiled and glanced toward the bookcase. "For what it's worth, I have that book too. It's really fairly vague on the matter, if you bother to read it. The real prohibition is part of Leviticus, the same section that says we can't shave. Or eat shrimp. Or do just about anything besides go to church on Sunday. As I read it, Jesus freed us from all that. Not that I put much stock in that particular book anyway."

I shook my head. "It still doesn't seem right."

"Why?" Elaine asked. "Because that's what you've been told all your life?"

I swallowed, then nodded.

"Too many people close their minds way before a priest closes their coffin. If you live by other people's rules, you miss a lot. This, for instance."

With that, Elaine pushed her mouth to mine a second time. I relaxed my inhibitions and returned the tender caress, moving my lips over hers. She became more aggressive, shooting her tongue into my mouth and then drawing it along the inside of my lower lip. Without a thought my tongue rushed to slide over hers.

Then I tasted it- or more appropriately, him. The flavor was so subtle, just a hint of a somewhat sour salinity, yet it was so unique I knew instantly what it must be.

I recoiled at once, putting my hand to my mouth.

"What is it?" Elaine asked. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I muttered, looking into her anxious eyes. "I tasted your husband."

She smiled. "That was the idea. You asked what it tasted like."

"I did," I affirmed. "But I should have tasted my husband first, not yours!"

Elaine's eyes widened and she inhaled a barely audible gasp. "I guess so," she admitted. "I got caught up in the passion of the moment. I wasn't thinking."

"I need to do some thinking now," I said, turning my eyes toward the door. "I should go."

"Call me tomorrow," Elaine suggested.

I nodded and took the first of many zombie-like steps toward her door.

By the time I reached my parlor, I was sure I had committed some horrible sin, not only watching her wanton act, but then allowing her to kiss me afterward.

I made supper in a daze. Excusing myself after eating, I headed upstairs for bed, unsure if I was truly tired or just did not want to face my husband. Regardless, I was soon asleep.

Hours later, I awoke with a start. I had just chased a possum throughout my mother's chicken coop until I had trapped it in one of the nests. There the cornered creature had hissed at me. But this was not a memory from my childhood.

"Possum," I mumbled to myself. "What does that dream mean?" I turned on my bedside lamp. Beside me, Russell groaned and rolled over. I waited a handful of seconds until I was confident I had not woken him. Only then did I reach for the book that Elaine had given me.

My fingers shook while I turned the pages. "Possum," I whispered before reading the remainder of the text in silence. These and other generally nocturnal or burrowing creatures represent reticence. Those experiencing such a dream are typically being too timid in their affairs.

I gasped and closed the book. Putting the tome back upon my nightstand, I found my eyes pulled to the heavens. Can dreams really have such meanings?

My gaze dropped from my ceiling to my husband. With a sigh and a nod, I slid across the mattress and kissed his neck in the same manner he had often kissed mine prior to our routine sexual sessions.

Russell stirred. I draped my arm over his torso as if I meant for him to lie still, smiling as he relaxed. Pulling the bed linen over my head, I moved my ear to his sturdy chest and listened to the steady thump of his heart.

Above the sheets, I felt a pressure and realized a moment later it was one of his hands petting the back of my head. I turned and faced my target, though I could see nothing. Imagining his gaze was fixed on the bulge in the sheets, I crept my way down his abdomen inch by inch, kissing the taut and furred crease of his tummy. My hands preceded my face to his boxers. I grasped the waistline. At once, he arched his form. I inhaled, keeping the breath for a second as I wondered if he knew what I had in mind.

When I released my breath, it was through a smile. I pushed his shorts only onto his thighs then withdrew my hands to pet his exposed manhood. Stroking the semi-hard shaft I moved closer, inching my way down. Somewhere near his navel, I felt certain he must know what I intended. His reticence buoyed my confidence and I continued onward until I felt the softness of his crown again my nose.

I inhaled more from surprise than want of oxygen. His pungent scent filled my sinuses. Closing my eyes, I took in a deeper breath. That was when I knew there was no turning back.

* * * * *

"Then what?" Elaine asked.

I shrugged and reached for my coffee. "I did it."

"I know that," she smirked. "What was it like?"

I nodded and took a sip. "It wasn't anywhere near as gross as I thought it would be."

Elaine grinned and bounced her eyebrows. "So you liked it?"

I grinned back. "It wasn't bad."

"What did he taste like?"

"Like you said," I related. "It's just skin."

Elaine winked at me. "You know that's not the taste I meant."

"Oh," I muttered, inhaling a sharp breath and holding it. "I don't know. I didn't go that far."

Elaine's smile vanished. "Why?"

"Well," I began. "I sucked him for quite a while. I only got the knob in my mouth though, not like you, but he still seemed to enjoy it. He did start to leak just a little, a weird salty sweet, but it wasn't the same as, well, as your husband's."

"And?" Elaine pressed.

I sighed. "Then he said, 'I'm ready.' I figured he wanted sex and stopped. Since he was already lying there, I climbed aboard and rode him." A smile spread across my face. "I can't remember the last time we did that."

"Did he last long?"

I shook my head. "Less than a minute."

Elaine shook her head. "No wonder you dream of boars."

My head ceased shaking and fell to one side. "What do you mean?"

My hostess steered her cold gray eyes into mine. "When he said, 'I'm ready,' he was warning you he was close to ejaculating. That was polite of him, but, trust me, he didn't want you to stop."

"Oh," I mused, examining my recollection of the event. "How was I supposed to know?"

Elaine scowled. "I showed you how to do it right."

"At least I did it!"

My neighbor smiled, then nodded. "You're right. At least you did it. I'm sure you'll do better next time."

I was visited by a distant yet familiar anxiety, the sort I used to feel when my mother reprimanded me. My head moved in a shallow nod.

Elaine's smile turned into a grin. "Did you tell him we kissed?"

My jaw fell. "Of course not!"

Wrinkling her nose, she leaned across the table. "Why not?"

"Because..." I began, but after that first word my mouth just lay open, my tongue motionless within.

Elaine eased upward from her chair into a half-crouch. "I could tell you liked it. You should share all your joys with your husband, don't you think?"

I swallowed and shook my head. "That's not it."

"Then what is it?"

My eyes wandered. "Well, it's just, uh, I don't want to cheat on my husband."

Elaine smiled. "I know. I made the same promise- do only unto him, right?"

I smiled as well. "Yes. That one."

"But what does it really mean, to do only unto him?"

My brow formed a chevron. "It means I'm not going to cheat on him!"

"You're absolutely right. We're not going to cheat on our husbands."

"I'm glad that's settled," I said with a resolute nod.

"What did you think I was, a home wrecker?"

My head shuddered through a brisk shake. "Of course not."

Elaine grinned. "Does that mean I get to meet Russell?"

I smiled back. "Not the way I met Donald."

"No?" Elaine giggled. "Well, I guess I'll have to eat something else. Perhaps you and Russell could come over for dinner?"

I nodded. "That would be nice."

* * * * *

Russell stopped his fork halfway to his mouth. "Next Monday?" His eyes wandering toward the ceiling. "That would be the ninth?"

"Yes," I replied.

My husband shrugged and brought his gaze back to me. "Sounds good. What's she making?"

It was my turn to shrug. "I've no idea. We didn't plan that far. What about the children, should we get a sitter?"

"We'll just be next door." Russell turned to Larry, our oldest. "You're ten. You can handle a few hours without a babysitter- right, son?"

The boy smiled and nodded even as he continued chewing.

I turned to our child. "Do you think you'll be alright, Larry?"

"It's Lawrence!"

That's when I knew my fate was sealed.

* * * * *

Monday at dusk, Elaine opened her front door to reveal the brown and white polka-dot dress that hugged her figure without bothering to cover her knees or her shoulders. My eyes fell to the simple yellow sheath dress that cloaked my form.

"Hi," Elaine said. "Welcome."

Looking up, I found my neighbor sporting a wide grin. I followed her eyes back to my gawking husband. "Thank you," I replied, giving Russell a nudge with my elbow.

"Yes," he added with a start. "Good evening. It's a pleasure to finally see you." His eyes widened and his throat flexed through a swallow. "I mean meet you."

Elaine's grin turned into a full smile. Her eyes seemed to pulse as they glimmered. "I assure you," she said, "the pleasure is mutual." Stepping to one side, she motioned with her hand. "Please, do come in out of the cold."

Russell motioned and I preceded my husband into our neighbor's home. In an instant, the warmth of Mrs. Stanley's parlor and the scent of roast beef surrounded me. "Smells good," I said, turning back to our hostess.