Taking In Strays

Jax's smile faltered slightly. There was something there that wasn't right, but she didn't seem inclined to discuss it, so I didn't push.

We sat there until well after dark discussing the details of our lives. Jax, in particular, seemed to want to know a lot about me. I told her about my upbringing, and the slow start I had when it came to dating. Then despite the fact, she had shared very little about her personal life, I covered my sexual experiences in college without going into graphic detail. She listened throughout, saying nothing, just taking it all in.

"And your husband," Jax asked.

I explained how we had met and covered our courtship. About our marriage, I simply said Darren made me content.

That drew a funny look from her that suddenly left me feeling self-conscious. Looking down at my glass of wine, I said, "I guess it sounds sad to someone on the outside. But I reached a point in my life where I no longer believed finding that fairytale romance was a reality. So I settled for the three c's, and I'm not talking about how they judge diamonds."

Jax looked at me expectantly but said nothing.

"Contentment, comfort, and caring. Darren was able to check all the boxes. I'm a trust fund baby, so I never needed a man for his money. I just wanted someone that cared for me, had similar tastes and expectations wand was willing to give me space to do my own thing." I explained.

"What about passion?" Jax added, almost sounding sad for me.

I shrugged my shoulders, bringing my wine glass to my lips. "If you're talking about what drives me, then I guess it would be my charitable work. I've been given a lot in life, so I enjoy being able to help others when I can." I explained.

"And intimate passion?" Jax asked me with an eyebrow raised.

I couldn't help but smile. I'd had this exact same conversation with both Carolyn and Grace. Both women had pointed out how I deserved some intimate passion in my life. They thought I was cheating myself. It was shortly after that discussion with Grace that she started inviting me to go dancing with her friends.

"Are you asking about my sex life?" I asked Jax with a grin.

I watched as Jax's eyes got a bit bigger with mild panic. "No...well...I guess yeah, kind of."

I laughed at her sputtering, causing her to blush even more. "Darren and I do have sex occasionally, but it's never been all that important to either of us." Thinking for a second more, I added, "I think we both traded the idea of passion for stability in our lives. Would I like to have both Sure, but I don't think that's realistic, at least not for me."

I watched as Jax cocked her head to the side as she studied me. She bit at her bottom lip, and I got the feeling she wanted to say something. Whatever it was, Jax seemed to think better of it after some consideration.

Jax revealed more about herself as we sat there enjoying the wine. Her father had been white, and her mother black. Being of mixed race and having a white father had caused her issues when dealing with black classmates. The fact he was a cop only compounded her problems. Still, she had been a daddy's girl. The two had maintained a very close relationship right up until the moment of his death.

Her mother had been a different story. Jax said no matter what she'd accomplished, or how hard she'd strived; she never could quite seem to win her mother's approval. It had been an argument with her mother that had led to Jax not going on the road trip that led to her family's death. Jax made it plain that her biggest regret was the fact the last words between the pair had been harsh in nature.

I was no psychologist, but I couldn't help but wonder if the young beauty's obsession with older women didn't stem from some leftover desire to please her late mother.

Jax also talked a bit about the woman she had been dating for the last year. Her name was Anya, and Jax had first met her after taking the waitressing job she'd worked at for the last couple of years. The young beauty said word had spread from the other employees about the demanding part-owner who came in several times a month to throw her weight around. She wasn't well-liked among the staff who thought her guilty of needless micro-management.

To Jax, though, she had seemed just about perfect. She said there had been an instant attraction on her part towards the middle-aged European beauty. The woman's sometimes off-putting personality hadn't prevented Jax from endeavoring to get to know her better.

It had taken her the better part of a year to thaw the cold woman's icy exterior, but at last, she'd won out. One of the occasions that Anya came into the restaurant was for the end of the month inventory count. She was a stickler for making sure food and materials weren't making their way out the back door, and usually did the count with one of the assistant managers.

That's why Jax was so surprised when Anya called her into the office on a Wednesday night when she reported for her shift. Jax said she was thrilled when the beautiful brunette asked her to stay and help with the count after closing. Anya told her it would just be the two of them as she'd given Marty, the assistant manager, the night off.

Jax said she was near giddy the rest of the night at the prospects of being alone with the eastern European beauty. The caramel-skinned angel's smile was radiant yet somewhat shy as she recalled that night. Her eyes stared out at the shimmering waters of the pool. But Maizie could see they were focused on something in the recent past.

"We got started with the count before everybody had finished their cleanup. Anya was her usual prickly self right up until the moment the last employee left, and she locked the door behind them," Jax said.

"And then?"

Jax let out a little giggle, the kind that would be most typical of a young girl. "Then it was like someone flipped a switch. The ice princess disappeared, and the version of Anya I'd always wanted to meet was there."

"How so?" I asked, wondering what it was that would draw interest from such a sexy angel as Jax.

"She was playful once it was just us. She was genuinely interested in getting to know me while we finished up the count. Plus, there were little touches and light caresses while we worked that had never been present before."

I could see a hint of arousal in Jax's eyes as she remembered the night in question. "She was trying to seduce you, wasn't she?" I asked.

Jax smiled broadly, "Yeah, she was, which is ironic because I'd been trying to seduce her for almost a year."

I forced a smile in return to cover the dash of envy I was feeling towards this Anya. It was a silly reaction on my part despite recent personal epiphanies regarding my sexuality. After all, I was a married woman.

"And did she succeed?" I asked in a teasing manner as I toyed with the thought of having been the one to seduce Jax. Tingles ravaged my insides like a swarm of honeybees invading a freshly bloomed garden of spring flowers.

"Very much so," Jax admitted with a laugh. "The couch in the manager's office was never the same after that, to me. After that night, every time I went into the office and saw it, I couldn't help but smile."

Remembering the things Grace mentioned about the on and off nature of their relationship, I asked, "So, how are things between you two, still good?"

Jax's smile faltered slightly. It was a subtle change and likely only noticeable if you were looking for it.

The caramel-skinned beauty wrinkled her nose slightly and shrugged her shoulders. "Things are okay, really. We've had our challenges. Anya is divorced and has a couple of young teens at home. She thinks it would be too dramatic a change on them if they found out she was dating a woman."

"I guess I can understand that. Teens can be volatile and not handle change all that well. That has to be hard on you, though." I replied while reaching across the table and setting my hand on hers.

Jax's fingers instantly seized mine like a sponge coming in contact with a spill. Her touch was light and smooth and sent a shiver racing up my arm. I wondered, or maybe even hoped, that she could feel it too.

"It is," Jax said as she stared down into her wine glass. "When we can be together, it's great," she said before adding after a moment's hesitation, "at least most of the time."

I cocked my head at her qualification but said nothing. Seeing my look, Jax said, "Anya can be kind of demanding and take charge. It can be exciting, but I want more than that. Some days I just want to be loved by my girlfriend. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be her thing."

Squeezing her hand, I said, "You deserve to be happy too, Jax. Maybe if she can't give you that, you should try and find it with someone else."

A pained expression on her face, Jax said, "I wish it were that easy. In truth, I'm really only attracted to feminine, mature women. It's always been that way for me. The first woman I ever fell in love with was my first social worker. My skin would tingle, and my heart fluttered every time I was around her. The second was a librarian at the public library I used to go to do my homework. I'd lay in my bed at the homeless shelter and dream about her."

"And?" I asked.

"Nothing ever happened with either of them. I don't think either woman was ever even aware of the way I felt, and besides, I was underage at the time," Jax explained.

"So, any other relationships besides Anya?" I asked.

"No. Don't get me wrong. I would occasionally let a customer from Lisa's pick me up. But it was always just about sex. The crowd there tends to run a lot younger than the typical woman I'm interested in."

I was still absorbing that information when Jax said, "Can I admit something to you?"

The look on her face said whatever it was she was about to say wasn't an easy admission. Already holding her hand with one hand, I leaned forward and clasped it with a second, hoping to give her confidence.

Jax surprised me when, while looking down at our interlaced hands, she said, "I wasn't lying when I told you one of the bartenders at Lisa's had a massive crush on you. I just left out the part about it being me."

Elation instantly coursed through me. I wasn't alone in how I felt towards Jax; she felt something too. My face flushed, and my mouth went dry. All the moisture in my body apparently being rerouted to my panties.

"Me? Why? I mean, there were a lot of women there that were much prettier than me." I said, trying to sound modest to hide the thrill and adulterous thoughts crowding my mind.

Her head down, Jax cocked her eyes looking up my way and said, "You have no idea how sexy you are, do you? I was far from the only girl that thought so. When you stopped coming, I even asked around about you. But no one seemed to know anything, at least not that they were admitting."

Her eyes were so intense as she spoke; I found it hard to maintain her gaze. I badly wanted to kiss her. Me, Maizie Marie Grayson, a middle-aged married housewife of seven years, badly wanted to take a twenty-three-year-old woman in my arms and kiss her passionately. I wanted to do more than kiss her, far more.

But my conscience and cowardice kicked in, and I said, "Thank you, Jax, but you know I'm straight, don't you?"

The intensity of the young beauty's glare didn't even diminish slightly. "Are you?" Jax asked as if the question was up for serious debate. "I watched you at the club a lot, and you looked like you enjoyed the attention you were getting. You even did quite a bit of flirting yourself. So much so that it left me feeling envious at times."

Feeling myself blush, I said, "I had fun there, and the flirting seemed harmless."

"I don't know," Jax said in a very teasing manner, "it seemed to me like there was some definite curiosity there."

I rolled my eyes and then, after a moment, shrugged my shoulders in surrender. "Don't they say all women are curious about what it would be like to be with another woman? I'll admit to being tempted by the advances of a couple of young women, but then I would think of Darren and my life here..." I said, allowing my point to hang in the air.

We both sat there in silence for several minutes, enjoying the cooler evening air. I could feel Jax's eyes on me but was afraid to look her way. The intensity of my arousal left me feeling fearful of potentially losing my self-control.

"Stop, Jax," I almost groaned, the sound of how flustered I felt clearly coming through in my voice.

I heard her burst out laughing mischievously. "What?" she said, trying to sound all innocent, but failing miserably.

"The stare you keep teasing me with," I argued, finally becoming brave enough to look her way.

Jax giggled and said, "You shouldn't be so sexy in front of your young, an impressionable lesbian tenant."

"You're impossible," I said with a huff as I picked up my wine, "and you're showing incredibly poor taste if you think I'm sexy."

"Ha!" Jax declared as she flopped back in her chair, acting offended. "I happen to be blessed with a very discerning sense of taste; I'll have you know."

I stuck my tongue out at her drawing another laugh.

And that's how things went between us the remainder of the week. Jax worked the breakfast and lunch shift at the restaurant and then would come home and take a nap. The two of us would then have a meal together and enjoy a bottle of wine. She would flirt and tease me along the way, causing me to go to bed sexually frustrated each night. I got the distinct impression she was immensely enjoying the effect it had on me.

I waited until Thursday night to break the news of my new stray to Darren. He was his usual dispassionate self showing little emotion. He simply asked that I be responsible for dealing with her. God forbid anything to disrupt the harmony of my husband's home time. Still, I was more than happy to be her point of contact within our household. My growing affection for the young beauty was a concern, but nothing I felt imminently threatened my marriage.

At least not at that point.

I didn't see Jax on Saturday during the day. I knew she had worked the bar the night before at Lisa's, so I assumed she slept late. Around three that afternoon, I slipped on my modest two-piece and, after making a pitcher of Margaritas, headed out by the pool. I was lying on a float, enjoying the buzz from my drink when a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.

Thank goodness for my dark shades. With them covering my eyes, I was able to watch as a dark-headed woman with a stern expression made her way up the stairs to Jax's loft. She stopped at the top, staring out my way, either believing me to be asleep or perhaps not caring either way. I stared back, knowing she couldn't see my eyes. She had a trim figure and would have been considered beautiful had it not been for a case of, as my brother used to call it, resting bitch face.

She was dressed in an expensive-looking pair of dress slacks and what appeared to be a sleeveless designer white blouse. Thick, layered gold chains hung down over the top, completing her look. It was an attractive yet conservative outfit that spoke to everything Jax had told me about the woman's personality.

At last, the woman I assumed was Anya turned away from me and knocked on Jax's door. My gorgeous young tenant opened the door and greeted her girlfriend with a rather chaste kiss before spotting me floating lazily down on the water.

"Hey, Maizie!" Jax yelled down to me. "How's the water today?"

I smiled up at her enchanting form and said, "Perfect. You two headed out tonight?" Sue me. I'm nosey.

"Dinner and a club," Jax replied, before adding in a teasing manner, "I looked for you at Lisa's last night, but you were a no show again."

My one-fingered response drew a wicked laugh from her as she closed the door behind her.

It was almost five o'clock when I heard the door to the Jax's suite open. I had already left the pool and was seated under the pergola at the table while I read a trashy romance novel and enjoyed a glass of wine. The gate to the fence around the pool opened, and my breath suddenly abandoned me.

Jax looked...wow. The dress she wore was designer, Carolina Herrera, if I'm not mistaken, and looked absolutely spectacular on her seductive body. It was sleeveless and in a blue and white floral pattern with a fitted waist, scalloped hem, and a rounded neckline. The back had a keyhole cutout that highlighted her smooth, caramel skin. It was the perfect mixture of demure and sexy, classic, and flirtatious. In other words, it was the ideal dress for Jax.

"Wow," I said as I stood to greet the pair, "Jax, you just look stunning. That dress was just made for you."

"It was actually. Anya had it made for me as a gift," Jax said as she beamed. "I'm sorry. Maizie, this is my girlfriend, Anya. Anya, this is my landlord, Maizie."

Prying my eyes away from Jax's celestial form, just barely, I smiled at the serious looking woman to her left. She managed a strained smile and extended her hand towards me grudgingly.

"Happy to meet you, Anya. Jax has told me a lot about you," was what I said out loud. In my head, I was telling the bitch how much I hated her, and she didn't deserve my sweet little Jax.

Yeah, I'm completely in charge of my feelings of affection. I'm a rock.

Anya's reply as she tried to crush my hand was a simple, "Hello." Her eastern European accent pronounced it by dropping the h sound altogether.

Once the Slavic beast released her death grip on my hand, I turned my attention back to the angel next to her and said, "Where are you two headed exactly?"

"Anya got us reservations at Nikolai's Roof," Jax said excitedly. "After that, we're going to a club Anya likes."

I couldn't help but notice how less excited Jax seemed about the club than dinner. Her choice of words made it clearly sound like the second half of the date was intended solely for Anya's enjoyment. I reminded myself to tactfully ask her about that at a later time.

"Well, you two make a lovely pair, and I hope you both have a wonderful evening," I said. "You will have to tell me all about it over a glass of wine tomorrow," I told Jax.

After telling Anya once again how nice it was to meet her, even though it wasn't. I purposefully hugged Jax goodbye. The way the bitch had been latched onto Jax's arm was territorial to the max. So the hug was a childish act on my part to mark my territory. I couldn't have been more obvious in my actions had I hiked my leg and peed on the poor girl.

It was the first time I'd hugged my gorgeous tenant since the day she moved in, and her reaction kept me awake deep into the night. She folded herself into my arms, giving in completely. Her face buried into my neck, her nose just beneath my ear. There was an audible intake of breath on her part as she inhaled the perfume I'd dabbed there when I got out of the pool, followed by a soft moan. It was the moan that haunted me. My panties instantly flooded at the sound of her pleasure and knowing I caused it only elevated the eroticism.

When they were gone, I had to climb back into the pool to cool off. The thought of going inside and trying to seduce my husband briefly entered my mind. But I knew if I did, I wouldn't actually be making love to my Darren. In my mind, it would be Jax whose naked body caressed mine, and Darren didn't deserve that.

That moan also led me to do a couple of things later that were far from the norm. One I hadn't done since high school, and the other was a rare occurrence for me during my marriage.

When I was sure that Darren was asleep, I grabbed my laptop and headed into the craft room. It was in the interior of the house and had no windows. Locking the door behind me, I settled on to the loveseat against the far wall and opened my internet browser.