Our Love Saga

I reacted faster than she had anticipated. With her eyes closed, her lips expected to meet mine. Instead, she found the palm of my hand.

"Un uh, Mrs. Soghomonyan," I laughed. "I want to kiss you just as badly, or probably even more, but you said it yourself, the way that you feel right now makes it too risky. How about if I take you to dinner and we'll try kissing in public."

She was pouting again, but said, "No. I'll take you to dinner to repay you for helping me get the printer for Jimmy. That way I'll get to pick the place and set the environment as you call it. Come on, I'll drive."

Chapter Three

"Thanks, Joe, I appreciate it. I'll make the arrangements and let her know over lunch."

Joe Allen said, "Not a problem. It's me who appreciates you keeping her happy and content. A happy employee is a productive employee. Let me know if the dates don't work and we'll work something else out."

As soon as my call with Joe Allen ended, I called the American Airlines Executive Platinum desk to arrange for a round trip ticket to fly Samantha to Dallas over the Easter weekend. She hadn't seen her best friend in years, and God knows that I had more than enough frequent flyer miles to make it happen for her.

Joe Allen had readily agreed to let Samantha take Good Friday, April seventeenth off, as well as the Monday following Easter. Her flight would depart Orange County Airport late in the afternoon of the sixteenth. Actually, it would be our flight, because I would be accompanying her. She would return to Orange County the following Monday, but I would continue to Tampa for a quarterly business review with Techno Data.

Samantha and I had spent yesterday, Sunday, together at Olvera Street in Los Angeles, trying to find Mexican food that would be reminiscent of that which Samantha had enjoyed in New Mexico. We had enjoyed our time together, even if none of the food had met our expectations. I had proposed the excursion as a way for us to celebrate her birthday, so she didn't know that I would be arriving at Oculus Filtration today on her actual birthday to take her to lunch.

After almost three months both of our divorces were proceeding, although mine was light years behind hers. Jimmy acquiesced to every term that Samantha had presented, including him taking out a second mortgage on their house so that he could buy out her share. They still shared the house, but only as roommates sleeping in separate rooms and splitting expenses. In three more months, the divorce would be final and Jimmy would have the clear ownership of the house that would allow him to get the second mortgage in his name alone. Samantha would get a cash settlement of just over ten-thousand for the house and twenty-seven thousand from half of their savings.

Under California divorce laws, I was getting screwed, but my lawyer had told me to expect that. Linda would get to remain in the house, with me paying half of the mortgage until the kids both turned eighteen or she remarried, at which time the house could be sold and the proceeds split equally. I would be responsible for child and spousal support since Linda had never worked, but she would be responsible for the other half of the mortgage out of that. I was granted liberal visitation rights, but Linda had turned the kids against me to the point that they seldom wanted to spend any time with me, yet I was still responsible for maintaining medical insurance for them. Finally, I would be responsible for all debt, including her car payment and insurance since Linda had no source of income beyond the spousal support. The good news was that the proposed settlement was finally approved by the court that morning. Nothing that Samantha and I did together from this point forward could affect the settlement terms on either of our divorces.

When I arrived at Oculus Filtration, Samantha was on a conference call. It had already stretched into more than half of her normal lunch hour and I could see that she was getting impatient as I watched her through the glass wall of the conference room. She hadn't seen me and wasn't expecting me so I enjoyed watching her natural behavior. I couldn't hear what was being said, but by her body language, I sensed that Samantha was in full persuasion mode, trying to sway the others on the call to her point of view. I watched with pride as her smile and posture finally indicated her success.

She was dressed as professionally as ever, but when she walked out of the conference room and saw me, her behavior was anything but professional. She ran to me and jumped into my arms, planting a chaste kiss on my lips.

"I'm so glad that you are here," she said. "I was distracted through most of that call thinking about how much I wanted to see you. Why are you here?"

"I wanted to take my girl to lunch on her thirtieth birthday," I said. "But we'll have to make it quick since your conference call ran long. I have a customer call in an hour and a half."

"How about the Burger King up the street? We should be able to eat there relatively quickly."

"And it's within my budget," I joked.

Samantha rode with me the few short blocks and never took her hands off me. She was either squeezing my hand, stroking my face, or snuggling against me at every opportunity.

As we walked into the Burger King, I handed her the birthday card that I had gotten her. Samantha stopped and pulled my face to hers. "You are the best birthday present in the world. Today wouldn't have meant anything to me without you."

Her kisses always curled my toes, but this one was a record-breaker. I had to turn and adjust my erection in my pants before entering the restaurant to avoid embarrassing both of us. Samantha knew the effect that she had on me, and I had to give her credit for not pushing us too far too fast, regardless of how much she wanted to tease me and please me with her actions.

Samantha found a table for us while I placed our order. I had mastered her food preferences as well. When I returned to the table with our food, a misty-eyed Samantha was smiling up at me.

"Does Marlene know?" She asked, holding up the airline tickets that were inside her birthday card.

I leaned down and softly kissed her lips before taking the seat across from her. "I don't even know Marlene's last name and I have no contact information for her, so unless she is psychic, I would say that she doesn't know. Do you think she'll have a problem with us visiting her over the Easter weekend?"

Samantha's expression turned to shock, and then fear as she picked up her birthday card again, looking for something she might have missed. Finding nothing, she looked at me and said, "You said 'us' staying with her. Are you coming too?"

"I had hoped to," I said, "but if that would create a problem for either you or Marlene, I could stay here."

"Oh, no, no, you coming with me would be wonderful. I would love to introduce you to Marlene. I've told her all about you and how happy you make me, and she is dying to meet you. I just didn't see any tickets for you."

"My ticket is in my briefcase. Now, we better eat before things get cold."

Samantha glanced at her airline tickets once more before sliding them into her purse. As she unwrapped her sandwich she said, "My seat is in first class."

I nodded at her and said, "Of course. I try to fly first class whenever I can, and you deserve nothing but first class in everything. We're seated next to each other on the flight to Dallas, but you'll be flying home alone. I will have to go to Tampa after Dallas."

It was obvious to me that she was thinking about something while chewing her first bite. After swallowing, she asked, "How are you paying for these tickets?"

I finished the bite that I was chewing before answering her, "I didn't. I used some of my frequent flyer miles for them. I still have over two-hundred and fifty thousand miles in my account and it increases with every business trip I take, so if there's any place else that you want to go..."

Samantha smiled and said, "I'll think about it."

We ate in silence, just smiling at each other affectionately. Samantha finished first and placed her empty wrappers onto the tray that sat on the table between us. She then asked, "Did I ever tell you about the first time that I considered cheating on Jimmy?"

"I don't recall a conversation about that."

"It was about two months after I started working for Joe Allen the first time. I was sent back to headquarters in New Jersey for training on the new system. The training was as boring as hell, and I found myself spending a lot of time thinking about my relationships. I knew that I had never loved Jimmy, my first husband, Luis, or even Vic for that matter. It seemed to me that I kept choosing guys simply to save myself from being alone or to get myself someplace different than where I was at the time. I came to realized that I had been more alone with each of them than I was by myself. I couldn't remember a time with any of them when I actually wanted to be with them. Now, the more time I spend with you, the more I want to be with you. Does that make sense?"

I nodded and let her continue, "I was staying at the hotel that the company put all visiting employees at. It wasn't as nice as the Doubletree out here, but it did have a restaurant and bar area that was usually pretty active. I had never had a one-night stand before, but the third night there, I decided to go down to the bar and let myself be picked up by a strange man. I don't know if it was the wedding ring on my finger or if I had picked gay men's night at the bar, but not one guy even attempted to talk to me. After a couple of hours, I returned to my room and regained my self-respect. Now, do you want to hear about the second time I considered cheating on Jimmy?"

"How many times were there?" I asked.

"Only two."

"Go ahead then," I chuckled.

Samantha pushed the tray holding our empty food wrappers aside and took both of my hands into hers. She then said, "The second time was the day that I met you, when you stopped me from falling, and every day since then. I now know what love is, and I know that the feelings that I have been missing before are real and alive within me because of you. I don't simply want to be with you, I need to be with you. It's like a part of me is missing when you're not with me. I am completely obsessed with you. I love you AJ."

She squeezed my hands in hers and added, "I don't expect you to make the same admission so don't worry.

She wasn't revealing anything that hadn't been obvious to me for some time. I didn't want to tell her that I loved her as well simply in response to her professing her love for me. I took a different approach, "I remember everything from the first time we met, and every second of every minute that we have shared since. What I can't remember is when I fell in love with you. I think that I have always loved you and was just waiting for the time when you would enter my life."

Before she had a chance to breakdown and cry, I tried to distract her, "I have another present for you. Well, technically I think it is a present for both of us."

Her eyes shone brightly as she asked, "What?"

"My divorce settlement was approved by the judge today. We still have to wait the six months and return to court to get the final court order, but once Linda is served on Friday, the clock will be officially ticking."

Samantha stared at me with a jubilant smile on her face, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

I smiled at her and said, "If you don't have any other plans for this weekend, I will arrange to get us a comped room at the Doubletree for Friday and Saturday night."

"AJ, you are not only the best birthday present ever, you are the gift that keeps on giving."

~~~

Linda and I had married early. She had been eighteen and I had been nineteen at the time. She had been with one other guy before me, but I gave her her first orgasm. I had sowed my share of wild oats before meeting Linda and even had experienced sex with some older women who schooled me on things that younger guys don't usually learn until later in life, if ever.

During my marriage to Linda, I had little-to-no opportunity to practice a lot of what I had learned before her. Linda refused oral sex of any fashion, which didn't bother me that much because blow jobs had never interested me. I couldn't grasp what possible enjoyment a girl could get from giving a blow job, so I always felt selfish when a girl had me in her mouth. And while I would be aroused by the sensations, I could never achieve an orgasm from a blow job.

Now, cunnilingus was something different. A man (or woman for that matter) could derive extreme pleasure from cunnilingus. The scents of a woman's arousal, the taste of her excretions, the sounds of her pleasure all meld together to create one of the most intimate experiences a man and woman could share.

Linda always denied us that intimacy, and many others. In our fifteen-year marriage and time together before getting married, we had sex in something other than the missionary position on a bed only one time. She didn't drink much, so when she had over-indulged once while we were on a trip to Las Vegas, she let me bend her over the table in our hotel room and take her from behind. She experienced three of her most intense orgasms, but apparently, the alcohol clouded her memory of them because she would never do it again.

Remember when I mentioned that I sensed that Samantha held a great deal of passion for people, places, or things that she believed deserved it? Well from the moment that we closed the door that Friday evening at the Doubletree Hotel, I realized that Samantha believed our love deserved all of her passion and exuberance.

Samantha made it evident immediately that she intended to give herself to me completely, and fully expected me to use her body for any pleasure I desired. She also made it clear that she expected me to happily do the same for her, and I did. Nothing that could be done between a man and a woman together was off the table.

I wouldn't say that Linda liked to have 'vanilla' sex, I would classify it more as 'melted vanilla ice cream' sex. Imagine my delight when Samantha preferred Baskin-Robbins thirty-one flavors where our lovemaking was concerned, and she liked serving as well as partaking.

I can honestly say that Samantha was the first girl, or woman, to make love to me rather than simply letting me make love to her. She made me feel like an Adonis with the way that she focused on deriving pleasure from the pleasures that she gave me. She found erogenous zones on my body that I didn't know existed and she was giddy and attentive with her exploration and discoveries. I have always equated high intelligence with extraordinary bedroom skills and if that assumption is true then Samantha was Mensa bound.

That's not to say that I didn't do my own share of attentive exploration of Samantha's body. God, what a body she had. Having seen her in everything from her professional work outfits to her sports bra and biking shorts, I knew that her body held promise. The promise was fulfilled in aces the instant that I held her completely naked body against mine for the first time. Her lean, athletic body was firm in all the right places, soft in all the better places, and sexier than hell from head to toe.

I don't know why I didn't realize it before then, but I suppose it was because since the moment I had met her, Samantha always had this amazing tanned glow and I just took it for granted that it was her natural skin tone. I never knew that I had a tan line fetish until that Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel. It turns out that Samantha made visits to a tanning salon three times a week, and while she could have gotten a full-body tan, she always wore her bikini while tanning, which resulted in the sexiest tan lines I had ever seen.

We made love on Friday night until sleep finally overtook us around midnight. Our lovemaking wasn't lust-driven; it was gentle and considerate, every touch a declaration of love. We didn't spend over six hours having sex, although I think both of us would have been willing to try, but we did spend all that time completely loving on each other as if our lives depended upon it.

You really don't realize how powerful love is until someone gives you all of hers. When I verbally professed my love to Samantha before dozing, I had complete confidence that she knew it to be true. I know that I did.

I woke before Samantha and reveled in her child-like slumber while wrapped in my arms. I was curious about me not having the normal urge to relieve myself first thing in the morning until I remembered that we had skipped dinner last night and drank very little water before falling asleep.

I heard the low rumbling of a hungry stomach just a few seconds before Samantha opened her sleepy eyes and smiled up at me. "It wasn't just a dream," she whispered.

"The only dream is you," I answered as I pulled her body up to lay on top of mine with our faces aligned so that I could kiss her lips. Samantha brought her hands up and placed them on either side of my face as we kissed.

When our lips parted, hers rained more kisses down onto my face, interrupted by her occasional words, "I love you," followed by "I need you," and "I want you," before she repeated the sequence while continuing to kiss my face.

It was hard not to laugh at her gentle kisses and loving words being delivered with the ebullience of a happy child.

"I think your hunger is affecting your emotions," I teased. "Do you want me to order room service or do you want to get ready and go out for breakfast?"

I felt Samantha spreading her legs to either side of my body just before she bent her knees and rose so that she was straddling me. She had a lustful smile on her face when she reached back and began stroking my semi-erection.

"What part of 'I love you', 'I want you', and 'I need you' didn't you understand? You can let me have my way with you on this nice comfortable bed, or risk your physical safety when I rape you in the shower. Your choice."

The bed won that round, however, I knew that Samantha was frustrated that while her riding me provided her with two powerful orgasms, her weight on my bladder prevented me from being able to achieve an orgasm of my own. She made sure to remedy that while we showered together and it was certainly worth the risk.

Watching Samantha transform herself in the morning for the first time made me realize that she actually did very little to polish her appearance. Besides blow-drying her hair, applying a minimal amount of base make-up, followed by a little blush, she only applied a little mascara before she was done. It really was her natural beauty and healthy complexion that shined through.

She didn't seem the least bothered or annoyed by me sitting on the closed toilet lid and watching her. She would smile at me in the mirror and continue our conversation as naturally as if we were seating next to each other on a couch.

"AJ," she said, "I'm glad that we didn't jump the gun. It was unbelievably hard to resist, and if I had known how wonderful we would be together, I wouldn't have been able to wait. I know that being in love really for the first time in my life contributes to how wonderful you make me feel when we make love, but I also know that the world-altering orgasms that you gave me were because you played my body like a fine musical instrument."

"Your strength oozed through my body like an electrical current and made me respond in ways that I never imagined possible. You knew exactly where to touch me to hit the right notes. You pushed buttons on me that I never knew existed. If I wasn't so hungry, I wouldn't want to leave this room for the rest of the weekend. I am still amazed at how turned on I am just by knowing what we are capable of together."