Gift For Whom?

"Divorce granted!"

With that proclamation, a family court judge ended the 25-year marriage of Ford and Traci Pomerantz.

Traci sobbed loudly and uncontrollably in the arms of her attorney.

Ford sat down absently and closed his eyes, looking like someone had drained every ounce of energy from his body.

Both parties knew this wasn't how their lives were supposed to go.

******

Ford and Traci Pomerantz wandered into Galeria Lopes late on a Saturday afternoon. Co-owner Maria Lopes greeted the pair several seconds after they walked in the door.

"Is there something particular you are looking for?" she asked. "We specialize in pottery and painting. I throw most of the pottery we sell and my brother paints most of the canvasses."

"Wow. Both of you are very talented. I'm sure your parents are very proud to have two such talented children," Ford said sincerely.

"We were just wandering around the downtown killing some time before a 5:45 dinner appointment at The Guest House and figured we would visit several of the stores in the area that we hadn't been into yet," his wife added.

"Take as much time as you like looking around," Maria said. "We have plenty to look at, and we also do work on commission if you want something totally unique."

The gallery had several small rooms, and the Pomerantzes lazily wandered from room to room. The third room they visited contained several nude paintings, mostly of women but several of men. Traci giggled self-consciously, and Ford noticed his Nordic-looking wife was blushing pink as she studied a nude painting of a well-muscled young man sporting a sizable penis.

"Oh my God," Traci whispered to her husband. "Do you think that's a real representation?"

"I can assure you that it is indeed accurately painted," an olive-skinned, handsome black-haired man said as he entered the room. "I am Santiago Lopes, and I painted that impressive creature.

"I believe you have already met my sister, Maria."

Traci continued to blush and continued to stare at the painting.

"Do... do you do a lot of nudes, Mr. Lopes?" Traci asked tentatively.

"About two to three a year," the man answered. "I only paint from live posing, and that is time consuming, plus a nude is a bold statement... and not everyone has the boldness to have a nude hanging when Aunt Jane or Grandpa comes to visit."

"Yes, I see where it would have limited appeal, but it surely is dramatic," Ford said as he took his wife by the elbow and directed her away from the painting.

Lopes stuck close to the couple as they wandered into the next room. When the shock of the painting wore off, Traci noted that the man, who appeared to be about 15 years younger than her 48 years, was handsome in a Continental sort of way. For his part, he could see that the couple were a handsome pair, and he was more than a little taken with the curvaceous "MILF." In a tight white top and matching white skirt that ended about three inches above her knees, Santiago thought he would surely enjoy painting her nude, although he knew the odds of that happening weren't very good.

The pair walked through the gallery for another five minutes before leaving. On the way out, Traci slipped Santiago's business card into her purse.

The pair wandered into the jewelry store adjacent to the gallery. Ford noticed that Traci didn't perk up as she usually did when they visited a jeweler, and worried that she might have been getting ill. Ford knew Traci loved jewelry, and through the years he had bought her several expensive and unique pieces. It was not unrealistic that Ford would buy her another piece of jewelry if she expressed an interest in anything. The pair had a 25^th anniversary coming up in several months.

Coincidentally, Traci was also thinking about the couple's upcoming 25^th anniversary at the same time. She had just figured out the perfect gift for her husband.

******

"I've got the perfect gift for our upcoming 25^th, something that will really knock his socks off, Lori!" Traci announced to her friend as they ate lunch a week later. "I'm going to have Santiago Lopes paint a nude of me! We'll have to keep it in the bedroom, of course, but I just know Ford will absolutely love it."

Lori's eyes got wide and stayed that way as Traci told her of her plans. She and her husband, Archer, had been close friends of the Pomerantzes for 20 years, and she didn't believe the gift would fly with Ford, especially if Traci posed nude for another man.

"Traci, sweetie, I know you've still got a great body and are awfully proud of it, and I know Ford can be just as big a hornball as the next guy, but isn't that pushing the envelope just a bit much? Posing nude for another man multiple times? And I've heard that this guy has slept with every woman who's ever posed for him," Lori said.

"Yeah, that has to be some sort of an urban legend. I've talked to him twice so far to set up the details, and he's been nothing short of a perfect gentleman. He comes from Spain, and he's got that Old World charm thing going.

"Besides, you know how much I love Ford. Nothing can come between us. I've had plenty of men come on to me through the years. If he does, I'll just shut him down like the others."

"Maybe, but you haven't been naked in front of the others when they've come on to you," Lori said.

Traci had to admit to herself that Lori had a point... a point that made her squeeze her legs together under the table.

Traci also had to admit to herself that she was nervous at the first of the agreed-upon 18 sittings. With the exception of her gynecologist, she had never disrobed for a man she was not dating or to whom she was not married. Santiago's studio was in the farthest room in the back in the gallery and had a door and lock for privacy and security.

Traci had come with a small make-up case and a brush for her hair. She was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt. Santiago welcomed her with a European kiss on both cheeks, then quickly stepped back. He knew his subject would be nervous, and it was his job as a professional to make her feel as much at ease as possible. He offered Traci coffee, tea, water or wine. As she was nervous, she accepted a glass of wine "just to calm my nerves."

Santiago poured a glass of red wine for both of them, pointing out the Priorat from Catalonia came from grapes grown near where he had lived as a child. It was dense and flavorful, he told her. Traci agreed that the wine had a good flavor.

"So... how do we do this?" she finally inquired in a soft voice.

"First, we kind of choose a pose, something as our base, which we can modify a bit if we need to in the first few sittings. I'm sure you've already done some thinking on that," he said.

Traci felt her face flame red, quickly followed by the rest of her body. She had never felt the level of embarrassment she was currently feeling.

"It's okay to be nervous, Mrs. Pomerantz. Everybody is the first time," Santiago said in his most soothing baritone.

Traci looked directly into his deep brown eyes.

"Why don't you call me Traci? After all, we're going to get... quite familiar over the next few weeks," she practically whispered.

The pose the pair arrived at had Traci sitting on the edge of a chaise with her left leg on the chaise bent at the knee toward her and her right just touching the floor. Her left hand rested gently on her left thigh, while her right was on the edge of the bed. Her upper body would be mostly facing the painter, with a slight shift to her left.

"I want my husband to feel that I am eagerly waiting for him to join me so we can..."

The woman stopped talking abruptly while she flamed scarlet. The artist watched her with a kind, bemused smile.

"You want him to know he is the only one in your universe," Santiago said almost as softly as Traci.

"Yes," she whispered and dropped her eyes.

Santiago offered Traci a small, light blue robe and pointed to a screened-off area so she could disrobe and fix her hair and makeup as she wanted. When she came back out, she had brushed out her almost waist-length hair so it hung loose and wavy.

"Yes, your long hair will add allure to the work," Santiago said in a positive tone.

"When you are ready, Traci, place your robe on the chair and assume the position we worked on before. I'll adjust you as needed," he said.

The woman did as she was instructed, her body glowing pink from embarrassment. Santiago was very careful to keep his smile from turning into a leer as he took in the delightful form in front of him. He definitely enjoyed his profession, he thought as she situated herself. Traci felt very exposed, especially when she realized the pose gave the painter a clear look at her vagina, which felt damp with her arousal and embarrassment.

Santiago worked for the better part of two hours, with a small break about halfway, keeping up a running conversation with his subject. At one point, Traci thought the sitting was like a trip to the dentist's office as the painter was mostly running a monologue in spots where he did not want her to move her mouth too much. They each talked a little about their backgrounds and childhood. Santiago was a very interesting man, she decided.

When the session ended, Traci felt comfortable enough to walk to the table where her wine glass was and drain the remainder without putting on the robe Santiago had provided for her. The painter subtly watched her as he put away his supplies. After finishing the wine, Traci went behind the screen and redressed.

Traci drove home in a bit of a fog. Spending about two hours naked in front of a handsome man other than her husband was embarrassing and arousing... and liberating. She knew Santiago liked what he saw, but was being professional and keeping his distance. She realized she held the power in the relationship, such as it was.

Traci had dinner waiting to be put on the table when her husband arrived home. They enjoyed a meal and the usual dinner time conversation, with Ford, as usual, asking his wife if she did anything fun during the day. Thinking back on it, Traci did find the sitting fun, but as she couldn't give up her anniversary surprise, she just told her husband that she did some shopping downtown, worked on a quilt she was making and did some reading.

"Same old, same old," she said.

Ford was an environmental engineer who worked for a company that specialized in alternative energy solutions. He made very good money, which allowed Traci to stay at home, and always seemed to be working on a project he enjoyed. He knew he was one of the fortunate few who were lucky enough to look forward to going into work almost every day.

He also knew he was a lucky man to have a wife who still looked as good as his did after almost 25 years of marriage, and more importantly, still loved him as much as he did her after all that time together. They still enjoyed a vigorous sex life, making love three to four times every week, and were still the other's best friend. Although they would be sad to see their youngest child leave home after graduating from college next year, they had both agreed that being empty-nesters would usher in a new and exciting phase of their lives.

Several times Ford had told his wife that he looked forward to christening every room in their house with sex the way they had in their first house before they had children.

"Am I going to have to fight you off with a stick, you old perv?" Traci usually responded with a grin of her own. "Just as long as we use the furniture this time. I'm too old for rug burns."

Ford didn't have to be the most observant man on the planet to notice his wife seemed to have something on her mind during the meal. He had to repeat himself once or twice in the conversation when Traci seemed to have drifted off. She realized that her brain was alternating between her "adventure" in the afternoon and her conversation at the table, and tried harder to focus on her husband.

Ford had barely crawled into bed that night when Traci ran the long fingernails of her right hand down his chest to his penis, which practically jumped to life under her ministrations. He let her play for a minute before sliding down and gently biting her left nipple while his fingers found an already wet pussy.

"Mmm," Ford moaned.

"Mmm... hhmm," Traci moaned back.

Traci's moans got louder as Ford ran a finger over her G-spot a few times before inserting two fingers completely. As her body started to rock with Ford's fingers, he added his thumb to the action, rubbing up and down on Traci's clit as her moans changed to unintelligible noises. When he felt her get close, he again bit down on her nipple and hung on tightly as Traci's body exploded in a cacophony of writhing and yelling. He kept up the rubbing until he felt her body start to come down from the surge.

Ford gave his wife about a minute's respite, then re-engaged. He got three more loud orgasms before he slid down further so his face was at Traci's opening. He used the flat of his tongue to slurp along that opening, then reversed the process with the underneath side, causing his wife to shriek, arch her back and clamp her legs around his head for about a half-minute. He finally had to tap her hip to get her to release his head so he could catch a breath. After doing so, he dove back in with gusto.

Ford's face was covered with Traci's juices several minutes later when he finally climbed back up her body. He lined up his rock-hard dick with her opening and slowly slid in to the hilt in one go, nudging up against his wife's cervix. As often happened when the pair played "hard," Traci had very little left in terms of strength and coordination, and Ford knew he would have to do most of the work, not that he minded. He got one more explosion out of his wife before he came hard and deep, growling with his effort.

Both Traci's brain and body were spent by Ford's efforts... and the occasional thought of her being naked in front of another man. Those thoughts were conscious on her part, but sort of drifted in random during their play. She didn't try to shoo them away, rather just included them as natural.

The pair cleaned up, kissed deeply and spent the night sleeping entwined.

Two days later, Traci had another sitting with Santiago. While she was still embarrassed to some extent about disrobing in front of him, she realized she was also looking forward to doing so, and in fact, was somewhat aroused by the thought.

Santiago smiled when Traci came out from behind the screen without the robe, and since she still felt a little embarrassed, she felt like she needed to give him an explanation.

"It doesn't make sense to put the robe on for five minutes, then be nude for the next two hours," she commented. "I don't think you're offended."

Santiago's smile never wavered.

"Whatever you are comfortable with, my dear. Don't feel you need to put the robe on for my virtue," he chuckled.

Traci looked directly into the painter's eyes. She could see he enjoyed the sight of her naked body, and a quick look at the crotch of his jeans confirmed that. He was still smiling when she looked back up into his eyes. He poured each of them a glass of wine and she took several sips before she moved to the chaise, taking a peek over her shoulder to see if he was looking at her ass. He was. She settled onto the edge of the chaise, smiling inwardly to herself.

Santiago was his usual glib self, deftly leading the conversation. He again made no untoward references and Traci felt even more comfortable in his presence. She watched his thick but well-toned arms and legs as he moved about working. She briefly thought about what he would look like if the positions were reversed and he was naked.

Again that night Traci seemed somewhat distant during and after dinner, but was again insatiable in bed. Once again Ford's concerns disappeared when the sex began.

By the fifth sitting, Traci felt comfortable enough to be exchanging European cheek kisses with Santiago. She giggled when he gave her ass a gentle swat and sent her over to the chaise.

Traci felt comfortable enough in front of Santiago that she didn't even try to cover up when she heard Maria knock at the door during one session. Santiago unlocked the door and admitted the woman, while Traci stretched out on the chaise in nothing but what God gave her. Maria, not seeing a naked subject for the first time, seemed very comfortable with Traci and made small talk while Santiago retrieved something from a cabinet. She thanked him, bade Traci farewell and left, relocking the door.

******

Traci knew it was wrong. She truly loved her husband. She just had try it, at least once, and she knew Ford would never know because only three people knew -- Santiago, Maria and her -- and none would ever tell.

It was the ninth sitting; halfway home, Traci had thought to herself. She wanted the man physically; it was obvious he wanted her. It truly was just sex, and it had nothing to do with her marriage. As she approached Santiago, instead of the European cheek kisses, she planted a soft kiss directly on his lips. The pair broke apart before Traci again stepped in, this time planting a harder kiss on Santiago's soft, thick lips. After breaking apart again, Santiago stepped forward this time, placed his hands on Traci's shoulders and planted a hard open-mouthed kiss on her, snaking his tongue inside her receptive mouth.

Two more kisses later, Traci let Santiago lead her to the chaise. They spent the next hour learning each other's bodies intimately. Traci had four intense orgasms before Santiago came inside her with a roar. Her nerve endings felt like they had touched electricity. As they lay together snuggling, Traci thought it was the best sex of her lifetime. Santiago was no bigger or thicker than her husband, but...

The comparison with her husband was the first time Traci had thought of Ford since her initial thought when the day began. She was surprised she didn't feel guilty. She felt... fulfilled.

After the snuggling, Santiago went over to the painting and started dabbling without getting dressed.

"Get up and assume the position, please. You've inspired me," he said with enthusiasm.

Traci giggled.

"Really? Now? I'm a mess," she responded. "DO NOT paint me as freshly fucked!"

"But you've never looked more beautiful. This is the look!"

"I get it," she said, "But I can't give that to him."

The pair's routine changed after that. They had sex first every time, then Santiago would get up and paint the freshly-fucked Traci without even putting his clothes on. Traci marveled at how energized the artist seemed, even bypassing a second round of sex in favor of painting.

While his home life seemed to be slowly unraveling, Ford's work life was reaching new levels of success. When his company won the bid on a solar energy contract for a firm in Las Vegas, he was assigned to go to the site and set things up. He would leave late on a Monday afternoon and get home late on Thursday afternoon.

Ford had never travelled much for business through the years, but Traci was never a big fan of that on those rare occasions. He was surprised when she had almost no reaction to his announcement of the trip.

He stewed over the lack of reaction for several days. He decided he needed to say his piece two nights before he left.

"Traci, I need you to hear me," Ford said. "I feel you moving away from me, and I don't know why. I need you to talk to me. If it's something I've done, tell me and give me a chance to make it right. I love you, but it's not unconditional any more.

"You know how I feel about infidelity. You know I think it's one and done. If you're considering it, please... please don't."

Traci wasn't quick enough to cover the fleeting look that came across her face before it clouded over. She knew there was no way Ford could know of the affair, but maybe she hadn't been as circumspect in her behavior as she thought. Several times in the last few weeks Ford had noticed that her focus seemed to be wavering.