The Definition of Cheating

————————Prologue————————

Shaun came home late... or rather early... and Ellie was waiting for him. He smiled as he leaned back against the door and she stood a few feet away, arms crossed and expression cool as she looked him over.

"Well, so good of you to actually come home tonight." She said, every word sheathed in ice and he could feel his good mood and the nice buzz he was riding evaporating already.

"Ell..." He began but she cut him off by kicking something his way. He jumped slightly and looked down at the clothes basket that was at his feet. "What..." He shook his head and looked up to see her turning her back as she started to walk away.

"Take those clothes off. You're covered in whore dust." She said in steely tones and he sighed as he looked down at himself.

"What are you..." Then he saw what she meant and he had to stifle a groan. "Ellie, it's body glitter." He said.

"Well, don't spread it all over the house, it's impossible to clean up. You can take those clothes to the laundromat tomorrow and wash the 'body glitter' off of them."

"Hon..." He began and she reappeared in the doorway to cut him off, something she was very good at.

"Just how many skanks did you have hanging all over you?" She asked and he could hear the accusation in her voice and the hurt behind her tone.

"Ska..." He furrowed his brow and felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "Listen, my best friend is getting married on Sunday." He said, as calmly as he could manage. "And I'm the best man at the wedding. Which means I planned the bachelor party."

"Which means you took your best friend out to the sleaziest stripper joint you could find and let a bunch of nasty whores hang all over him before sending him home to Sonia." She interrupted and he felt his anger growing.

They had only been married a year and a half and already they were sniping at each other and arguing and he had no idea when it had all started to go wrong. He had fallen in love with Ellie because she was fun and adventurous and she loved a lot of the same things that he loved and she was accepting of the things that he did that she didn't like. Or at least, she had been accepting of them until after the wedding, when things had started to go down hill. A lot of his friends had warned him that a wife was different than a girlfriend and he hadn't listened. He loved Ellie and he wanted her to be a part of the rest of his life, but lately it seemed like she was doing everything she could to push him away. And the way she could so easily interrupt him, something she hated him doing, was only a part of it.

"Listen, Ellie..." He tried to begin again, but she cut him off once more, her voice sharp and waspish.

"Listen to what? Excuses?" She asked and he could feel his irritation growing. "You spend time with your friends; I can accept that. You drink a few and take care getting home and I appreciate that. But when you come home from a place like that, covered in body glitter and reeking of perfume, with that idiot grin on your face, it's the same as cheating." She said and he couldn't have looked more shocked if she had slapped him.

"Cheat..." He began but she cut him off.

"Yes, cheating." She said sharply. "You had naked women hanging all over you and in case you conveniently forgot, you're married." She held her left hand up, her rings right in his face.

"It's not the same..." He began but she did it again, cutting right across what he was saying.

"It is the same thing." She said angrily. "Why do you need to see some strange woman's tits and ass? You have a wife, and you can see mine any time you want."

"It's not the..." He tried again but again she didn't let him finish.

"It's cheating." She cut in flatly and he grabbed her by the upper arms and all but shouted in her face.

"It's not the same fucking thing as cheating." He said, giving her a little shake and she looked at him with a moment of fear before he managed to get himself under control again. "It is not the same thing, not at all." He managed in a calmer tone and she spoke in a low, brittle voice.

"You have a wife at home now... I realize that this is still a new thing for you but it's real. You go out to these places and get gratification from these women and you think it isn't cheating?"

"It's not cheating." He said flatly.

"Oh, and why not?" She asked and he could hear the hurt and pain in her voice.

"I had my clothes on the whole time and I never touched them." He said as carefully as he could.

"Them?" She said, the single word nearly making him scream at her again, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing. "Just how many women did you have hanging all over you?"

"Ellie..." He began but she didn't give him the chance to explain.

"How many, Shaun?" She asked, her tone dangerously neutral.

"Ell..." He tried again but she was having none of it.

"How. Many?" She demanded.

"I had three lap dances." He said and she shrugged out of his hands and stepped back.

"Three women, all of them completely naked... and I imagine you enjoyed every minute of it." She said, as cold as ice and he just glared at her. "Yes, you enjoyed it... the attention and the sexual gratification, even if you did have your clothes on, even if you didn't touch them back you still got off on it and that, my dear husband is cheating."

"It's not cheating." He tried once again and she raised an eyebrow, her arms crossed once again.

"How?" she asked after a long moment. "How is it not cheating for a married man to have a sexually-based relationship with a woman that isn't his wife?"

"It's just looking." He said with a defeated laugh and she sighed, disgust clear on her face as she turned away.

"Whatever you say, Shaun." She said as she started to walk away from him, signalling to him that the argument was over, that she was in the right and, as usual, he was wrong.

"Then you are cheating on me too." He flung at her back and she stopped as if she had walked into a wall, turning slowly to look at him with shock on her face.

"I never..." she began but it was his turn to interrupt now.

"How is it not cheating for a married woman to have a sexually-based relationship with a man that isn't her husband?" He asked and he could see her getting angry now.

"Don't you use my own words..." She began, advancing on him, but he cut her off again.

"Channing Tatum." He said and she jerked as if he had slapped her.

"That's..." She began but he was merciless now.

"Ryan Reynolds... Hugh Jackman... Sam Worthington... Chris Hemsworth..." He could have gone on, but she managed to rally and cut in.

"That's not the same thing. I've never even met any of those men." She said, her face flushed red and he knew that he had a foothold, one that he wasn't about to let go of.

"But you own all of their movies, every one you can find." He said, his voice low and rough. "You ogle them and comment on their bodies and their talents and I know that you get off on them." She hugged herself and looked away, tears in her eyes. "So how is that not cheating?"

"It's not the same..." She began but he gave her some more of her own medicine.

"How? How is that not cheating?" He asked and she turned to walk away from him. He nearly let her, he nearly watched her walk away even though he knew it would be the end of their marriage. But he caught her in the middle of the living room and stopped her, hands on her shoulders and she froze. He could feel the tension in her, feel the sob that wanted to escape.

"It's not cheating." He said softly. "Not by a long shot, not any more than what I did tonight was cheating. Yes, I found those women attractive, yes I enjoyed seeing all of them, yes I had a great time. But I came home to you with every intention of sneaking into bed and waking you up the fun way." He said. "Yes I looked at them, but I wanted you." He said and she turned and wrapped her arms around him, pressed her face against his chest and he held her as she sobbed.

After a long time she stepped back and looked up at him. "I'm sorry... I just... I felt so insecure." She said and he smiled and wiped her tears away.

"You have no reason to feel insecure." He said and she laughed nervously.

"It's hard not to when you go to a place like that."

"I know, but as beautiful as those women are, they can't compare to you." He said and she laughed again. "I mean it."

"You're sweet for lying to me that way." She said.

"It's not a lie..."

"Bullshit." She said, but with a smile. "Those women are gorgeous."

"Then let me prove it to you." He said and she raised an eyebrow. "I'll take you there tomorrow night." Her eyes got wide as she looked at him, her face flushing with colour.

"I don't know if I can..." She began nervously and he rubbed her arms to soothe her as she got her thoughts in order. "I mean, are women even allowed inside?"

"Yeah, there were more than a few." He said with a shrug. "Hell, Paul brought Janice." He said and her eyes got wide at that. She had introduced the couple two years before and she thought she knew her friends better than that. "So?" He asked and she bit her lip and then looked up at him with a nod.

"Yeah, yeah let's do it." She said and he smiled. "So... forgive me for being a bitch?"

"Sure, it's nothing." He said and she smiled and hugged him again. "But I should probably tell you that you have whore dust all over your face before we go to bed." He said and he felt her stiffen as she realized that she had had her face pressed into his body-glitter infected shirt.

"Shower?" he asked as she stepped back from him.

"Definitely." She said and he took her by the hand and led her into the bathroom.

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Elegance was just the sort of place that she thought it would be. Lots of lights and music on the outside, with advertisements for the dancers and scantily clad women in the windows to entice passers-by to come in off the street. She walked with Shaun, hand in hand, up to the door where they were waved through after a cursory check of their IDs. Inside it was warmth and music and the scents of perfume and alcohol that filled the dimness of the main floor. There were stages all the way around the room, with just a few small gaps to allow the flow of patrons through the area, and every table in the place was an island with a brass pole that went from the ceiling down. There were four dancers in action and various stages of undress as they came in and within seconds Ellie had a drink in her hand.

She had no idea who had sent it her way, but the bartender poured it right in front of her and she needed the liquid courage too badly to turn down the sweet, rum-filled concoction. Her eyes took the whole room in, from the stages to the bars to the dancers to the patrons and she held onto Shaun's hand for dear life. She had never felt so nervous before, not at her wedding or the night she lost her virginity. Her heart was racing and she drained the glass before she realized it, only to have another drink replace it just as quickly.

"If people keep buying me drinks, I am going to end up so drunk tonight." She said, leaning in close to Shaun so that he would hear her over the music.

"Go ahead." He said, kissing her temple. "I'll get you home."

"And you aren't worried about other men buying me drinks?" She asked and he laughed. "What's so funny?" She narrowed her eyes at him and he just pointed to a statuesque redhead with the most magnificent breasts and longest legs that Ellie had ever seen.

"It isn't the men buying you the drinks, it's the dancers." He said and the redhead winked at her and blew her a kiss and she flushed with colour from her hair all the way down.

"Why are they buying me..." She began but just then the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life appeared out of the crowd. She was dressed in lingerie, which was the norm for the girls that weren't dancing, but her body was perfect, with flat, tone abs showing just the slightest hint of definition, breasts that were large but still just right for her frame, long legs in heels that were less exaggerated than those of the other dancers and her dark hair done up in a complicated mess on top of her head while her makeup was flawlessly designed to enhance her big, emerald green eyes and her full, wide mouth. She was model-pretty and Ellie suddenly felt very inadequate.

"It's a tradition." The dancer said with a smile, looking Ellie over with a gaze that stripped her to the skin and took in all of her flaws and features at once. She was hell on heels, this woman, a sex goddess, and she knew it. "We always buy drinks for women who come in on a regular night, helps them to relax.

"Oh..." Ellie said, feeling small and plain and mousy in the presence of the beauty.

"I'm called Jewels." The dancer said, reaching out to take Ellie's hand with a smile.

"Umm... El... Ellie." She managed, even her name feeling plain and bland suddenly.

"Well, Ellie, I hope you enjoy yourself tonight." The dancer said with her smile still in place. "And if you want a dance tonight, just ask for me. I'll give you a freebie." She moved off then, melting back into the crowd and it wasn't until after she had gone that Ellie realized that the woman had barely even glanced at Shaun. The woman had had eyes for her alone and that somehow made her more nervous than she had ever been before in her life.

————————2————————

She lost count of the drinks that were sent her way and the number of dancers that came over to introduce themselves to her and ask if she wanted a dance. But she was too anxious, and she sat on a comfortable love-seat with Shaun and watched the stage that was closest to them and the dancers that were performing there. Several of them tried to get her to come closer, but she stayed with Shaun and drank the drinks that came her way and felt herself sliding into comfortable intoxication.

Which was the only comfortable thing about the night for her. She had dressed in what she thought was a slightly revealing outfit, a loose top and shelf-bra and skirt that fell just shy of mid-thigh and her sexy red panties that felt so good against her skin. But compared to the dancers and even the bartenders here, she was dressed like a nun in full habit. Every female staff member was dressed in something sexy and revealing and not a single one of them seemed even remotely ashamed of the skin they were showing. She saw dancers remaining in just their heels after a set, lounging around comfortably and chatting or moving on to private dances with customers while one of the bartenders sold her bra to one of the men at the bar and she remained happily topless, her pierced nipples sending flashes and sparks of light through the room as she moved.

It wasn't long before Ellie felt overdressed and that seemed to draw attention where the casual nudity and exposure of the other women did not. She stood out and she felt very anxious at the looks she was getting, though no one seemed to bother her as she sat with Shaun and it was clear that they were together. But she could feel the looks she was getting and that made her drink more. And the more she drank the more she couldn't seem to look away from the stage and the dancers that were there and when the DJ introduced Jewels a little thrill went through her whole body and she sat up a bit as the gorgeous woman came out on the stage to start her set. She was leaning forward in her seat and staring and she was very aware of the fact that her body was sending out every signal of attraction that she had. She felt the clenching of her muscles in her core and the way her belly seemed to flip weightlessly. Her skin tingled and her eyes dilated as she drew air through her mouth and licked her lips and when Shaun stood up and drew her to her feet she went without even realizing it and suddenly she was seated at the stage and looking up as the goddess looked down at her with a knowing smile.

————————3————————

The music seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat and she stared unashamed as Jewels moved. Her body was flawless, not a scar or mole or wrinkle anywhere and she seemed to revel in the attention as she moved from the pole to a watching customer and back again with athletic ease and casual comfort in her state of undress. Ellie was drawn by the tonicity of her muscles and the warmth that she seemed to radiate as she flowed through the dance number, shedding the last of her clothing before the dancer finally moved across the stage and looked down at Ellie with a knowing smile.

Everything she did was elegant as she danced and Ellie couldn't look away. She flowed through her movements like water and before Ellie even understood what was happening the other woman was sitting on the edge of the stage, her feet on either side of Ellie's legs and then she was down and into Ellie's lap and they were face to face, Jewels had her arms around Ellie's neck and she was smiling as she moved her body in the most sexual way that Ellie had ever seen.

"You can touch me, you know." Jewels whispered with a wicked smile and Ellie couldn't even speak to respond, her hands coming up and feeling that the other woman was just as warm as she looked... warmer even. Her heart was racing as Jewels leaned in close enough that it was almost a kiss, only to barely brush her lips across Ellie's mouth before she moved away again, smiling as she moved and ground her hips around, pressing her body against Ellie's in the most blatantly sexual way that she had ever seen. She leaned in close again to whisper in Ellie's ear.

"I bet your pussy tastes just like candy." She said and then she was gone, leaving Ellie stunned in her seat as the dancer moved on to Shaun and then back to the pole at the end of her set. Ellie's leg were unsteady as they moved back to the loveseat and she could feel the wetness between her legs and just how hard and sensitive her nipples were. She was sure that she had been more turned on in her life, but she wasn't sure just when that might have been.

That was the exact moment that she understood why her husband enjoyed coming to places like this as much as he seemed to and she wanted nothing more at that moment than to be alone with him so she could act on what she was feeling. But at the same time she didn't want to leave just yet. She was enjoying herself and as the next drink filled her hand and then warmed her belly she turned her attention to the stage and the next dancer with a smile. Shaun was going to be in for a real surprise when they got home.

————————4————————

She was blissfully drunk when Jewels next set came around and she went up to the stage without prompting from her husband, eager for the attention of the dancer and the way that that attention made her feel. And Jewels didn't make her wait. The gorgeous woman locked eyes with her immediately and smiled in a way that had electricity running all through Ellie's body. She went through the entire first song before she shed her bra and freed her firm, perfect breasts and then she turned her focus on Ellie with a sudden smile that sent a thrill of fear and arousal shooting through her body.

She didn't walk across the stage, she stalked and Ellie could tell that she was the prey. And as Jewels crouched down, she just stared. The other woman held out her hand and Ellie, without understanding why, reached up and took it and Jewels drew her to her feet. She was numb all over, almost a spectator in her own body as Jewels drew her up, to step on the chair and then onto the little counter in front of the stage, and then on the stage itself. She turned around and stared out at the room and at the people who were suddenly looking at her.

She was on the stage...

On the stage of a strip club with a stripper...