The Gift

Nancy was propped up on one elbow. She watched as her husband Richard came back to bed. He was nude with but a glass of ice water in his hand, his cock swaying as he walked. She could still feel the tingle of their lovemaking. Each quenched their thirst. Then he got back into bed.

Richard asked about her day. Nancy talked of work. Of errands. She asked about his day. He spoke of problems at the worksite. Then he asked about Mara.

Nancy was thoughtful for a moment. Only then did she speak.

"Mara is about as well as might be expected. Tired. Accepting."

Her best friend had maybe six months left. It had been as long since the diagnosis. Second and third opinions had confirmed the odds as very long, even with extraordinary measures, which Mara had decided therefore to decline. She would not be debilitated by radiation or chemotherapy. Her affairs were now all in order. A moderate cocktail of painkillers kept her mostly comfortable, but they combined with the progression of the disease to produce fatigue. Mara slept a lot. When she was awake, she had a lot of time to think. And she shared so many of her thoughts of all types with her friend.

Nancy now chose her words carefully.

"Mara longs for... certain things."

Richard looked at her attentively. Nancy knew he genuinely did care.

"It's been three years since Luke passed," she went on, referring to Mara's late husband. "She dated a few times, but nothing ever went anywhere. And she's rather traditional, you know."

Mara was Catholic. She had once confided to Nancy that she'd had sex more than once with Luke before they married. This revelation had been extended as though it were rather scandalous. Nancy knew that Luke had been her first. And only, for none of her widowhood dates had led to any sort of sex.

"I suppose dating isn't an option at all at this point," Richard mused.

"No," Nancy agreed, "but I've been thinking of trying to... match her up with someone... suitable."

"Suitable?"

"She needs to be loved. Physically."

Richard just looked at her.

"Mara is attractive, right?"

Nancy's husband agreed that she was. Mara was forty-five years old. She had never been one to flaunt herself, but she certainly possessed an understated beauty. Standing five-six with a hundred and forty pounds, she was pleasingly curvaceous, which is how Richard put as he elaborated. Nancy nodded. She also knew that her friend was pretty, with short dark hair and a warm smile.

"We might be a little biased. She's my best friend. And I've always be thankful how close you two have become."

Richard now nodded.

"I adore her," he admitted. "But how could she ever find someone? I mean, now?"

He was surely referring to her present condition.

"I was thinking I could fix her up, so to speak."

Richard shook his head with a sympathetic smile.

"Now how are you ever going to find an actual match for her?"

"Well," said Nancy, "I need someone who is kind and empathetic and warm himself. Someone who understands. He should be attractive and an attentive lover. And, of course, to know and accept the situation."

"Exactly," her husband replied, as if she had made his point.

Nancy looked at him with a cryptic smile.

"Oh, so you think you can find such a person?" Richard went on.

"I do," she said simply.

He looked at her with a skeptical expression that told her to go on.

"You."

Confusion on Richard's face. Then a dawning realization. Nancy nodded.

"I want you to make love to Mara."

"You're serious?"

Mara was incredulous.

"Absolutely."

Nancy and her friend looked intently at each other.

"But I can't see how this would possibly work between the two of you. Anyway, would Richard really want to do that?"

"First," Nancy said, "I would do this for you without hesitation. And I can't think of anyone better than Richard to be a part of it. Do you find him attractive?"

Mara paused before nodding.

"Not only does he think you're sexy, he loves you. He really does. You've always been a part of my life since he's known me. We're all very close, aren't we?"

Another nod.

"I don't know if I can just have sex-"

"Make love."

Mara looked at her uncertainly.

"Nancy, I don't love Richard. Not in that way."

"What way? He's a close friend. You know he and I would do anything for you. You know we love your company."

Mara said nothing but looked very doubtful.

"You need this. He wants to give it to you. And I want you to have it."

Nancy looked into her friend's eyes.

"Think of it as a gift."

Mara took a deep breath.

It was three days later.

Nancy and Richard had talked at great length about it. While he still had his concerns over Mara's perspective, he was on board. And for the right reasons, she could tell. As for her friend, even through the initial shock and dismissal of the suggestion Nancy could see interest. They had talked about it, every day. And Mara had decided, cautiously, to move forward. Nancy saw that her primary concern was damaging Nancy and Richard's relationship, so it was simply a matter of showing Mara that this was not an issue.

They met at Mara's house on a Thursday. Late morning. The kids were in school. Mara was herself. She had queried Nancy on her presentation. What do wear, how to appear.

"Just be Mara," Nancy had said.

And so she had. Comfortable pants. A loose top. She looked like a middle-aged mom. That was perfect, because that's who she was, who Nancy and Richard knew her to be.

Mara had served chicken salad with glasses of white wine, giving Nancy a semi-serious 'I'm going to need this' glance as she poured. They ate and they drank and they made small talk. After, they sat on the sofa in the living room and chatted some more. Presently, Nancy moved things forward.

"Where?"

"What do you mean?" Mara asked.

Nancy could read the uncertainty in Mara. She looked at her friend. Then she looked at her husband.

"Do you want Richard to make love to you?" she said simply so that it was unambiguously out there.

Mara looked trapped. Her eyes went from Nancy's to Richard's. She took a deep breath. And she smiled.

"Yes."

"Good," Nancy replied. "Where?"

"I thought... my bedroom."

Nancy had thought that perhaps she'd go with the guest room, but this was better. A positive sign. She nodded.

"All right."

She got up and refilled her wine glass, then sat back down.

"I'll be right here."

Mara looked at her, mild alarm in her eyes. Nancy understood. Her bedroom was immediately above them. Mara would be thinking about what Nancy would hear. She reached out to touch her friend's arm.

"It's okay," she went on. "I know exactly what will be happening. It's my idea, after all. I want it as much as anyone."

Mara smiled an appreciative smile. The doubt didn't disappear from her face, but it was under control.

"Remember, this is a gift for you."

Richard let Mara go ahead of him up the stairs. Her behind swayed from side to side as she ascended. He knew this was natural and not just for his benefit. Nonetheless, he enjoyed the view.

Mara's bedroom was low-key. Quite like her, Richard thought. She paused before him and, unplanned, he came up behind her and put his arms around her.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. He did not think that she was not, but felt that the solicitousness of the question might put her further at ease.

"I am," she replied.

"Good," he said, and kissed her neck.

"But I'm also nervous," she confessed.

Richard ran his hands across her thighs. Touched her stomach. Moved them upwards and softly held her breasts through her top.

"I think that's inevitable," he said soothingly. Then he turned her until they were face to face and softly kissed her. It was an easy, slow kiss, and he closed until their bodies pressed together. He felt her feel him, his hardness against her, her reaction to that. Then he took a step back, beheld Mara for a moment, and began to undo her buttons.

Her blouse fell away, and he slipped the shirt underneath over her head. Her brassiere was black.

"Nancy took me shopping," she said.

Richard liked his wife's sense of style, but he knew that the attire was for Mara's benefit. He took off his own shirt. Then down to his boxers. Mara did not look anywhere but at his face. He smiled, and she smiled back. As Richard watched, Mara continued to undress. Then she was standing before him, black thigh-highs and panties to match her bra. A doubtful look on her face. He met it with a desire-tinged smile.

Closing the distance between them again, Richard took her gently in his arms and kissed her. As he pressed against her so she could again feel his hardness, this time with fewer layers separating them, she murmured. He looked at her.

"I've never done anything like this before," Mara said, wonder in her voice.

"Do you want me to make love to you?" Richard asked her.

She nodded, slowly but without hesitation.

"Good," he said, smiling, "because I want to make love to you, Mara."

Richard removed his boxers. He stood before Mara nude, erect. She did not fixate on his face now but beheld him. All of him. His cock. Then she removed her bra, letting it fall to the floor. Richard felt his cock twitch. They were lovely tits. Middle-aged, yes. But very nice. Full, with large and dark areolae, and hard nipples. He made sure his unabashed gaze conveyed his delight at what he saw, and in return there was grateful relief in Mara's eyes. Then, slowly, she slid her panties down and stepped out of them. Now she stood before him, bare. Her thatch of pubic hair was black and thick. Richard's cock twitched again.

"Are you ready?" he asked her gently.

"Yes."

Then he led her to the bed. Mara lay down and parted her legs slightly for him. Enough to show her wet pinkness. Yes, she was indeed ready.

Richard moved onto the bed and over her. They kissed again. Then he kissed her neck. Between her breasts. His cock twitched against the inside of Mara's thigh. She issued a half-murmur, half-moan. He moved up slightly, kissing her lips once more. Now his cock was between her legs, nestled firm in the cleft at the top of her leg. Richard could feel Mara's urgency.

But he made her wait until her impatience became manifest. He felt her moving, reaching, and then she took him in her hand and guided his cock until it was positioned at her wetness. He stopped kissing her and rose slightly so he could look into her eyes. They connected there, visually, pausing for a moment to absorb the incipient pleasures. Then, slowly, Richard moved into Mara. Her eyes widened. He smiled.

She was delightfully tight, more so than he would have expected. And very receptive in every way. Tenderly, he kissed her once more, and their lips came together as their bodies were joined. Gently loving in and out of Mara, Richard looked then into her eyes.

"Good?" he asked, sensitive that it was in fact as she had desired in the abstract.

"Yes," she whispered to him, smiling.

He made love to her. Slowly. Softly. Looking at her as he did, watching her reactions, seeing her pleasure. In time, he could see on her face an uncertainty.

"Is everything all right?"

"Richard, I-"

She seemed to be searching for words.

"It's never been easy for me to... get there."

Mara looked at him apologetically.

"I mean, it takes concentration. And stamina. And I'm so tired now, these days. It just... it's not going to happen."

Richard looked at her, concerned.

"I didn't realize," he said.

"I know. I should have said something."

"No, no. It's all right."

"But it doesn't matter," Mara said, her face warm with a smile. "This is exactly what I need."

She ran her fingers down Richard's bare arms. And with a flash of her eyes she clenched around his cock, even as he was slowly moving in and out of her.

"This is wonderful," Mara whispered, with an imploringly appreciative smile.

This pleased Richard. His pleasure was considerable, but it was not solely physical. He loved being able to do this for Mara.

"I love you, Mara," Richard said.

What he said caught him by surprise. He looked at her.

"What I mean is-"

"I know what you mean," she said with a benevolent smile. "You're not in love with me. But you're loving me. Right?"

He smiled.

And he loved her.

To Richard, it seemed like it could go on forever. Slowly moving in and out of Mara. Pleasure. The connection between the two of them, that visual link. He kissed her. Then he looked into her eyes. She clenched around him, then wrapped her legs around his buttocks and pulled him firmly into her.

"This is good," she said soothingly. "This is exactly what I wanted."

Richard ran his fingers through her hair.

"I want you to... finish... in me... whenever you're ready."

"Mara, I don't have to," do that. I can-"

"No! No, Richard, I need that much. I need to feel it."

Even as he hesitated to believe it, he began to thrust deeper into her.

"Yes," Mara whispered.

He slid his cock into her pussy. Her tight pussy.

"Yes," she said, on the edge of a moan.

He looked into her eyes, seeing her looking back into his.

"Cum in me, Richard," Mara said throatily.

And Richard lost himself, the moments blurring into images of her face and sensations of being within her, until it surprised him. His own moans. The expression he could see on her face, as she received what he was releasing into her.

He was only vaguely aware when he was done. They shared a kiss, a tender kiss. After a suitable time, he disengaged and excused himself.

When Richard emerged from the bathroom, Nancy was sitting on the bed. Mara was propped up, wearing a robe. He felt a little conspicuous in his towel. Mara smiled at him, warmly. His wife looked at him in wonder. Then she looked at Mara. Then back at Richard.

'Thank you,' her eyes told him silently.

"I had lunch with Mara today," Nancy told Richard as he moved between her legs.

"It's been very interesting, spending time with her. I've never known anyone who has been with the same man as me."

Richard penetrated her. Nancy lifted her legs.

"She said that in many ways, what you did was the most giving thing anyone had ever done for her."

Richard thrust deep into his wife.

"You cumming in her," Nancy went on as her husband fucked her, "made her feel alive. Vital."

She thought about how what she felt inside of her had been inside Mara. About how she wanted it to be inside Mara again.

"I asked her if she wants you to make love to her again."

Her husband looked into her eyes as he drove his cock into her.

"She said 'yes'."

It was a few days later.

Nancy waited downstairs again. Mara was face down. The sight of her ass mesmerized Richard. She was even tighter this time, in that position.

"Is this all right?" he whispered into her ear from behind.

"It's wonderful," Mara told him.

Richard kissed the back of her neck. Tongued one ear, then the other. Made sure she felt his hot breath, from behind.

It was long. Very long. How long, neither of them knew.

"I love you, Mara," Richard whispered into her ear, moments before he came inside of her.

After, they lay together for a long time. He was still inside of her. The sound of breathing. Warm bodies. The stickiness of sex.

"I was close," Mara said eventually. "Very close."

"Oh! I'm sorry," Richard replied.

"No, no, it was good. It was so very good as it was."

He suggested that perhaps if there was a next time, they could try something that would facilitate Mara getting there. She said that, no, that was not necessary. That she was getting everything she wanted.

But she did say she wanted to be face to face again, if this happened once more.

He liked hearing that. Richard liked looking into Mara's face while he made love to her.

Of course there was a next time.

And it was getting better.

Richard and Mara were getting a feel for each other. They were connecting. Much of the awkwardness had disappeared. He marveled, that third afternoon with his wife's friend, at how readily she undressed for him. Where she put her Catholic behavioral boundaries, he did not know. Nancy had suggested that perhaps specific rules had given way to general sentiments. Love is a good thing, after all. He didn't know. So long as Mara was at ease with what was happening. And she seemed to be.

He looked at her.

She was looking down, watching. Waiting.

Then Richard gave her the sight that was her anticipation. He eased his cock between her pussy lips and then into her body, which was so wet and ready for him.

They shared smiles.

They kissed.

And Richard proceeded to make love to Mara.

As usual, Nancy waited downstairs. She had told Richard that she was enjoying those times very much. Sounds came from upstairs, mostly not from either her husband or her friend but from the bed, from the floor of the old house. It was erotic, she had said.

The both of them were soon lost in the haze of their third encounter, stirring pleasures both physical and intellectual. Yet again, Richard could hardly believe that it was even happening. But happening it was, and he was focused on imparting to Mara what she needed.

Then, footsteps.

"June!"

It was his wife's voice. June? Richard knew that was Mara's sister. He stopped moving and looked into Mara's eyes. Alarm.

Then she was in the doorway. They both looked over.

Mara's sister was a bit taller than Mara, and more slender. Where Mara was easygoing and warm, June was intense and a bit more austere, at least in emotions readily shared. Her hair was pulled back tight as she stood there at the door, smartly dressed, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

"What-? Richard, stop!" she ordered in a commanding voice that compelled obedience.

'I have stopped,' Richard thought to himself. But his cock was still deep inside June's sister, and he realized that it was getting even harder at this development. Erotic development, he silently elaborated to himself.

He did not know what to do. A glance at Mara. He thought he saw quiet exasperation. Then he could see June stepping into the room.

"June, no," he heard Mara say.

"I-"

"Please. Now is not the time."

Richard let it play out between the sisters. There, inside of Mara. Not losing his hardness at all. As if in reassurance, she tightened slightly around him.

"What are you doing?"

Clearly June's question was not literal.

"Richard is making love to me," Mara said, "because I need to be made love to."

"And this is all right with you?"

He realized that June was speaking to Nancy, out of sight around the corner. There came a muffled but certain 'yes.'

"We'll talk about this later," Mara said quietly.

A hanging silence.

"Go."

And June she went. Footsteps, fading. Another set of footsteps, also descending.

Then Mara looked into Richard's eyes with a smile and touched his arm. He started moving in her again, and she leaned up for a kiss, which he gave her. Then he broke the kiss and slowly increased his pace within her. Her eyes came alive.

They shared that visual connection for a long time. Richard was rock-hard, and the bizarre spectacle of being inside Mara while she had a tense conversation with a very disapproving sister had somehow translated into exceptional stamina. He was driving his cock into Mara now, watching her reaction, trying not to go too hard.

"You can fuck me harder," she said with smooth desire, anticipating his thoughts.

Then she sighed and relaxed. Tired, Richard understood.

"Cum in me, Richard," Mara whispered to him.

He did. Watching her, he thrust a final time and then froze. Her eyes widened as her body received the first of his many emissions. Then they kissed again, tenderly.