The Lady Shows Her Stuff

Don and Carole worked over the lunch hour while the rest of us ate. Afterwards, they took Todd and me aside and showed us their first cut at our erotic session. There have been several times when I have been jolted with a deep emotional feeling after seeing a moment of time frozen in a truly artistic still picture. Images can communicate deep, personal expressions across a wide range of emotions; Don's made me cry with their beauty and depth. I felt very proud that I played a vital part in showing nude male and female bodies fully exposed, reveling in sexual pleasure.

The pictures could have been pornographic, making the viewer feel like an intruder upon a vulgar scene. Somehow these images made you feel as if your own spirit had been uplifted by the visual beauty of naked human bodies and the sensuality of the sex act. One of those bodies was mine, and I was proud that the sexual pleasure that I had been feeling at that moment was so vividly captured and expressed with Don's camera artistry. I wept tears of joy over the wonderful work that Don, Todd and I did that morning.

I returned from California with a much different outlook on life in general, and my own in particular. Alan met me at the airport, and while we were waiting at the baggage claim area, he commented on my tan and new makeup.

I said, "Well, as part of the reunion activities, some of us indulged ourselves at a fabulous day spa nearby. You're only seeing the public new me, darling. When we get home, let's take a shower together, and you can see the rest of my makeover."

It was worth the price of the trip just to see the look on Alan's face after what I said registered. I recalled a similar look when we were on our honeymoon. In some ways, my homecoming was like a second honeymoon, only Alan and I first had to focus on our kids. We went out to dinner with them early that evening, and they oblingly agreed to get to bed early. Afterwards, Alan and I took that shower, and he roared with delight at his first sight of my shaved pussy and all-over tan. I hadn't counted on the added benefit that clean pussy lips were like an aphrodisiac to Alan.

For two weeks I worked hard on my pc, editing the final draft of my collection of images for Alan's birthday gift. I decided to divide the total collection into three separate audio-visual presentations: the outdoor shoot; the studio nude art; and Don's joy of sex. I met the deadline, and was ready to present Alan's special birthday gift. I had arranged for the kids to spend an overnight with their grandparents, so that just the two of us could cuddle on the couch with a bottle of champagne, after a special dinner out.

When we were settled, I finally confided to him that I had indulged in an erotic photo shoot, but did not go into all the details of what I did those two days. I told him of my retreat in Carmel, and how the experience had made me grow as a woman. But rather than attempt to explain in what ways I had grown, I preferred to let my images speak for themselves. I began with the presentation that contained the best of Todd's outdoor shoot. Then moving on -- after more champagne -- I showed Alan the presentation that featured my studio nude art. I deliberately refrained from sharing the set from Don's studio, deciding to wait to see his reactions to the 'mild ones.' I needed to assure myself that Alan fully and completely understood how my modeling experience had elevated my sensuality. Also, I was apprehensive on how he would respond to being married to a woman with such an appetite for sexual pleasures that she could include an extra-marital tryst.

My concerns about Alan's reactions to my posing nude were completely groundless, which made me love him even more. He was thrilled with my fully nude images, demanding that we study each set like it was a room in an art museum. We went through the pictures slowly and deliberately, and he often remarked how beautiful I looked, and how exciting it was for him to know that his woman could communicate so much sensuality. I was so grateful that he recognized that I had experienced an epiphany, and that he understood he was married to a different woman from the one of years past. We finished off the bottle of champagne in the bedroom, but that was an hour later, after making love like never before.

For the next month, Alan regularly demanded to see re-runs of the first two presentations, along with the unselected images in the entire collection. Entire, that is, except for those in the final set of Todd and me. I was still uncertain whether he could accept viewing my enjoying sex with another man. If he couldn't, I realized, what terrible consequences there would be to our entire family after that revelation. That collection had to remain my private domain until I was absolutely certain Alan would understand. As for the images that I did share with him, he truly enjoyed seeing how a skilled photographer could capture not only the external physical beauty of my body, but also that elusive inner self, the soul of my life and being. For several weeks, in the evenings, after getting the kids asleep and we were feeling that urge, in our bedroom we would sample about a dozen of my images, using my laptop. It was visual foreplay, in a way. During one of those evenings, while looking at the work of Todd and me, Alan expressed what he appreciated about my erotic art.

"Darling," he said. "Humans are definitely sexual animals, but we also have something else inside. It is when that something else enters into the process that we humans elevate ourselves beyond our animal nature. At those times we are no longer trying to simply satisfy sexual urges, but are trying to communicate sensually beautiful ideas. Our bodies go beyond the mere physical capability of reproducing; they become both vessels of love and instruments with which to express that love to a partner. Thank you, Olivia, from the bottom of my heart, for teaching me that through these pictures."

That was the moment that I understood that he, too, got it, just like I did that morning in the day spa in Carmel. Now, I knew that we both understood how humans are so much more than animals that merely satisfy physical needs. We mate for reasons that transcend creating still more humans to insure that the species survives. Our appreciation of our bodies' sexual attributes can extend far beyond carnal lust and gratification. At that moment, I was confident that Alan and I were one in that spirit, since we both believed in the power of using and appreciating our bodies as art. His life, like mine, was nourished through my body expressing my feelings of beauty, love, and sharing. I no longer had to hide from him a vital part of my new world. Tears of joy fell down my cheeks. I touched his handsome face and offered all of myself to the one man I loved.

"My dearest husband and lover, I have another surprise for you. There is one more set of images that were taken of me at Don and Carole's retreat. I needed just the right time for sharing them with you. I think that time is now. and I want to show them to you."