Beyond Friendship

He first noticed her at the Stephen King section of the local bookstore. She intrigued him for two reasons: Firstly, Stephen King novels were his life passion, the focus of his PhD study, and secondly, the logo on her handbag was from the same company his wife worked for. And she attracted him like a magnet. So he struck up a conversation.

"Do you read many of his works?" he asked. She looked up smiling.

"Yes, I am currently addicted to the Dark Tower series and I keep being side tracked into the characters that leech into it from the other books." She replied.

"Would you like to talk about it? It is my pet obsession." He invited.

She glanced down towards his left hand and self-consciously glanced to hers. Both of their left hands were decorated by symbols of their unions. But feeling the attraction, her curiosity spurred her on to accept his invitation. She thought how nice it would be to talk about it to a fellow enthusiast, as her husband does not read at all.

They wandered over to the coffee shop adjacent to the bookshop and settled into an immediate conversation. It felt as if they knew each other all their lives. They both came to life during the animated conversation, feeling an energy they have not experienced in years.

The afternoon flew by with rapidity, and after the third cup of coffee they realised that they should get on about their lives. Before they parted, he could not help asking about where she obtained the handbag bearing the logo he recognised.

"My husband works there, in the accounts department."

"So does my wife. What a coincidence." He replied.

They exchanged contact details and went their separate ways.

That evening, he asked his wife about her husband after relating his activities that afternoon.

"Small world." She commented, "It must be Harold's wife you met. We started at the company about the same time."

"Oh, Harold. You always mention him." He replied, "Maybe we should do dinner some time."

And they did. Friendship blossomed between the two couples and the two bibliophiles set up regular coffee dates to discuss their current reads. Both their schedules were quite flexible as he worked for the local university's literature department and she did high school tutoring.

He found that he always felt lighter, happier, after their meetings. But he also felt that the attraction between them grew stronger. He wondered how long they would be able to continue with their meetings before the compulsion to rip off her clothes grew too strong to ignore. Being flirtatious by nature, they could laugh off the attraction as an innocent flirtation for now, but how long that would last only time will tell.

One evening he broached the subject. Both their partners were away on a conference and they decided to have dinner rather than sit at home sulking.

Her reaction was surprising. She did not look shocked or appalled. Apparently she had been thinking along the same lines.

The bottle of red wine they had during dinner made them more reckless than they would otherwise have been. The magnetism was channelled to breaking point and when he dropped her at home, she invited him in.

They barely made it passed the front door. He hastily pushed the door closed behind him while ripping off her clothes. The hungry tension that had built up between them over the last months consumed them in its lust.

He impatiently pulled off her clothes, groping to feel her soft warm skin as he exposed it. He wanted to taste her, to smell her, to feel her. He lusted to enter her. His engorged penis aching, pulsating stronger each time he exposed more of her.

He held himself back. Not wanting to ruin the moment by coming to quickly. He lay her down on the couch, willing himself to gently stroke her labia, teasing little moans from her. The clear liquid gushed from her vagina, urging him to plunge his organ into her. He resisted, resorting rather to gently lap the spilling fluid up. The scent filled his nostrils, fuelling his lust even more.

She became impatient. She threw him over, forcing him into her. She started riding him, their coupling making loud slurping noised. He could feel the wave of ecstasy flowing over him, but he could not allow her control over his moment of pleasure.

He threw her over, pounding hard at her inviting moist vagina. Lost in their coupling, he articulated his pleasure in short, rough grunts, mounting until their cries harmonised in the climax.

They parted without the normal post-coital awkwardness normally expected from the first time. The unspoken understanding was that this would remain between them.

This event bothered him a little. He had a healthy sex life with his wife, and he did not feel any less attracted to her. This other relationship was as strong as his relationship with his wife. But it was somehow different. The question "Could one truly love two people equally without neglecting either of them?" Plagued him.

He also never had the urge to compare the two women. It was as if he was two different people, each loyal to only one woman. This made him smile. He always felt that he would never fit into the accepted norms of society and this reiterated the point. This was like running around naked in public, because he felt like doing so!

The following weekend the two couples got together again for an informal dinner. He was a little apprehensive about how it would feel seeing her with her husband after what happened. Once there, he found it remarkably easy to engage with Harold and they chatted as if nothing changed. But it didn't feel like he was only banging his best friend's wife without batting an eyelid.

Come to think of it, nothing has changed in his "other" life. His relationship with his wife was what it has always been. He still felt desire rising in him thinking of their role-play session the previous evening. He really enjoyed being the knight in shining armour (even if the "armour" consisted of nothing more than coconut oil glistening on his muscles) saving the damsel in distress. He could still feel the lingering touch of his wife's lips on his genitals and the teasing nibbles his balls endured.

Neither of their partners suspected that anything has changed between them either. And on the surface life continued as normal, except that underneath their weekly book discussions now revolved more around physical erotic encounters, usually climaxing with their feverish lovemaking. But they were discreet and knew that this was only a phase in their relationship.

As their physical relationship grew, so their friendship bloomed. This also brought the two couples closer together, for their partners, sensing the increased connection, strove to also deepen the friendship.

As time went by, the lust faded and their meetings started to revert back to discussing books and their couplings decreased to occasional events. Going through the normal sexual decline that all couples experience, the lust was replaced by companionship. Sex became an activity as opposed to a necessity and the kinship never wavered. It was like borrowing something, but returning it before it became a nuisance. Their partners never suspected that it went beyond flirtation and that is the way it stayed.