Warm, Sultry, Kiss Pt. 03

Mary sat in the waiting room at the doctors office. Her husband Steve had just gone back for his colonoscopy. The nurse told Mary she would call her to come sit by her husband's side in about twenty minutes, upon completion of the procedure.

Mary thought about the events of that morning, being confronted by Steve about her secret visit to Tommy Robbins apartment two days earlier. She was feeling anxious.

"What was I thinking?" She thought, "And why wasn't I more careful?"

She was worried about Steve's angry reaction, and felt terrible about the hurt look on his face. However, Mary had reason to believe that her indiscretion would not lead Steve to do anything rash.

Still, the whole situation bothered her and she knew she had herself to blame. She loved Steve, even though they had had their problems, and their personalities were so different.

She had loved Tommy thirty years ago. Since they reconnected on social media several years ago they had kept in touch, speaking or texting from time to time. Last fall they began chatting during a time when she and Steve were barely speaking and she was still processing the loss she was feeling by the death of Phil, the old vet.

Mary was not in love with Tommy now, at least, not in the sense that she would want to dump Steve for him. She knew that she would need to fight for Steve.

"I need to show Steve how much I love him," she thought. "I'll forget about Tommy for now. And if never seeing Tommy again is the price I have to pay to keep Steve, then so be it."

When Steve's procedure was completed, she was called back to sit with him. As Steve awoke, he was groggy. The doctor stopped by and informed them that everything had gone as hoped. Steve had a clean bill of health.

Mary was elated by the good news. "That's a relief! Thank you so much Doctor."

Steve, regaining his senses, seemed content, but said little. Mary, knowing how much Steve hated doctors offices, took the discharge papers from the staff person and began filling them out, directing Steve where to sign and initial.

Soon they were home. Mary made eggs, bacon and toast for Steve, who was starving after fasting for the previous 36 hours.

"I am going to go upstairs to nap," Steve told Mary, wearily and with little emotion. "Thank you for taking me to the doctor today and for feeding me."

"Of course, Steve." Mary replied. I will be upstairs soon to check on you. Let me know if you need anything at all."

"Thank you." Steve said as he got up from the table and headed for the stairs.

"Wait." Mary said, as she walked over to Steve. She wrapped her arms around him and looked into his tired eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Steve replied, kissing her gently on the lips before turning and walking up the stairs.

Mary stood for a moment before cleaning the dirty dishes. When she finished, she climbed the stairs to the bedroom. Steve was already asleep.

Mary went back downstairs and out the back door. Mary and Steve lived in a twin. Their back door leads to a deck, which leads to a long, somewhat narrow back yard with a tool shed at the very back of their fenced in property. Mary and Steve's attached neighbors, a new to the neighborhood young couple, Justin and Audrey, with a three month old baby, had an almost identical set up.

There was a gate built into the wood fence back near the sheds that enabled passage between the two properties. The previous neighbor, a union carpenter married to a school teacher, had built the gate so that the couples could easily borrow lawn equipment from each others sheds.

Mary suspected the real reason the chatty carpenter built the gate was to lure her over one night for a secret tryst in his shed. Mary thought her older neighbor was amusing, but she had no interest in him, nor in stirring up trouble with his moody wife. Steve was confident his neighbor built the gate for that reason, though he did not mention this to Mary. They never borrowed each others tools.

Out on the deck, Mary pulled out her cell phone and called her friend, Jill. Jill was Mary's closest friend. They used to work together before both were laid off from the big company at the same time.

They had mostly kept in touch through the phone and social media. Jill picked up some afternoon hours tending bar in a small neighborhood joint, twenty minutes from Mary's house. Since being laid off, Mary had not seen Jill in the flesh until visiting her in the bar one day, on an impulse decision, just over two and a half years ago.

"Hi Mary, What have you been up to?" Jill said as she answered her phone.

"Jill. Hi. I'm doing, we're doing, really well. Steve had his routine colonoscopy today and everything came out well. Since he had to be put under, I drove him there and home. It was weird. The whole thing lasted, like, 45 minutes."

"I am glad to hear that Mary," Jill replied. "I'm off today. Brian is supposed to come over this afternoon. Do you want to stop by?"

"I can't." Mary replied. "I need to stay here to take care of Steve."

"Take care of Steve?" Jill asked skeptically. "Is there a problem? Is he ok?"

"Well." Mary replied slowly. "I called you because I fucked up. And you're my friend who tells me like it is. I need your advice."

Jill was a couple years older than Mary. She had short brown hair, a larger frame and was more curvy. Long divorced, with two grown children, Jill prided herself on her knowledge of men and their motives. She often offered Mary advice, solicited or not.

"What is it Mary? I am here for you. You know that right?"

"I know you are Jill. Here's my problem. Steve found out that I secretly visited an old boyfriend on Tuesday.

"He confronted me about it this morning. He was really hurt. But then we had to go to his appointment.

"When we got home, he was hungry and tired. I made him eggs, bacon and buttered toast. Now he's sleeping."

"Wow!" replied Jill. "So did you fool around with him?"

"Well yes." Mary responded, sounding agitated.

"So what made you decide to do this on Tuesday with...?"

"Tommy Robbins." Mary answered, "He and I chat occasionally. I have no good excuse. He listens to me, makes me laugh. I can relax with him. He reminds me of the good old days.

"I feel guilty though. Steve and I are getting along really well, but I feel like we're walking on eggshells, afraid to really tell each other how we are feeling. We're so focused on kindness."

"So how are you feeling about Steve?"

"I love Steve. I didn't want things to happen this way. He is trying harder, but he rarely touches me when its not sexual. He and I don't connect on an intimate level the way I think a couple should.

"Steve can be kind of a blowhard sometimes, too. He can be arrogant and condescending. But on the other hand, he is very responsible. He takes care of me and I know he loves me."

"So do you want to run off with Tommy?"

"Oh no! Tommy has his own baggage. I don't see myself with him. Steve and I raised our kids together after we both had tumultuous first marriages. I think we both like the stable lives we've built together. We still love each other!"

"Yes," Jill responded. "Which brings us back to what you were thinking last Tuesday?"

"I've just been lonely lately. The kids are hardly ever around anymore. Steve is working and travelling all the time.

"Tommy and I chatted on the phone Tuesday morning. I just started to long for his touch. Plus, he told me he scored a bottle of Bella Glas, which certainly worked to lure me over for lunch."

"Very funny, Mary. But based on what you told me before, you think Steve gets off on you having secretive sex with other guys." Jill responded.

"I still think that's true!" Mary confirmed.

"He said he put all of the available evidence of my infidelity together last night before he came up to bed. But he came up to bed after midnight. I woke up at one point, and could have sworn he was jerking off!

"I am thinking that the best thing for me to do is to wait until he wakes up and tell him the truth about everything, apologize, and hope he forgives me."

"Well." Jill responded thoughtfully, "Let's think about this for a minute. You already said you were sorry didn't you?"

"Yes. Of course. But I just apologized for telling him I was having lunch with Connie, but instead going to Tommy's apartment. I didn't admit to fooling around with him, though Steve seems pretty certain of it."

"Well then you have already apologized." Jill told her. "If he wants the details, you need to make him ask you specifically for them.

"For now you should just treat him like a king. Do all the things to him that you know drive him wild. Make him think about how lucky he is to have a desirable woman like yourself for his wife.

"As the weekend goes on, he'll think about the sexy moves you've just used on him. He will think about you having done those same things, and maybe other things, with Tommy. He will be consumed by what you haven't told him.

"By Saturday afternoon, he'll come to you, practically on his knees, to declare his devotion, absolve you of any thought of having been untrue to him and give you a permanent hall pass!

"When he does this, be gracious, but avoid that thing you do with the endless apologizing. This is when you have the opportunity to make him into the lover you need and want him to be. Show him how you want him to touch you and make love to you. Do this well, and by Sunday night, he will be putty in your hand. And you will be free to fuck Tommy, or anyone you like."

"That is an interesting plan Jill! What if he blows it up and wakes up demanding answers?"

"If he does, resort to your plan and beg forgiveness. It can't hurt at that point."

Monday arrived, after quite an eventful prior week and weekend. Steve left for work early, Mary slept in. Before getting up to go to the art studio for one of two art classes she had scheduled during the week, she laid in bed thinking about the weekend that just passed. She sipped from her cold coffee, which Steve had made her. He had added a teaspoon of sugar and robust dollop of milk, as Mary liked it. He brought it up to her two hours earlier before softly kissing her forehead and departing.

Mary's cell phone lit up. It was Jill calling.

"Hi Jill!" Mary answered her phone, suddenly anxious to talk to her girlfriend.

"Hi Mary! I'm calling to find out if your marriage survived the weekend."

"Oh, survived isn't the word. I am simply amazed that your plan played out exactly as you predicted!" a contented Mary told her best friend.

"It did? I'm so happy for you Mary! I don't know Steve well, but you guys seem like a good match. For all of the problems you two have had, I can tell you still love him. How'd you do it?"

"Almost exactly as you suggested. I doted on him Thursday, had sex with him twice on Friday, in the morning and evening while giving him hugs, kisses and ear nibbles throughout the day. Steve went to sleep on Friday a worn out, but happy man. He didn't bring up Tommy's name even once all day."

"Ooow, go on." Jill said approvingly.

"Saturday morning we had things to do so we didn't see each other until early afternoon. I immediately could feel Steve's new found passion. His soft loving touch, and desire to please me, was evident. I could feel him opening up a bit, letting his hair down, so to speak.

"Then he pulled me aside," Mary continued, "and confessed his desire to hear about me having secret affairs, like I did with Tommy."

"Pretty Kinky, Mary," Jill laughed.

"He then assured me he wants us to grow old together." Mary went on. "Of course, I was completely turned on by his suddenly tender touch and expression of devotion to me. When we went to bed that night, I felt emboldened. I gave him a taste of the kind of sex I like, not this slow, vanilla stuff that we do all the time."

"Even I can't believe how well my advice worked for you!" Jill joked.

"I know! You should have an advice column or something, Jill."

"You get credit for the execution of the plan though. Did you ever spill the beans about what you did with Tommy?"

"Ha. That's the best part! He finally got the nerve to ask me last night. I told him and he just turned to jelly"

"Wow. I wish I were a fly on the wall for that conversation, Mary. So did you embellish your story a bit? To really tighten the screws even more?"

"No, I actually toned it down and glossed over some of the raunchier details. But I think I can now safely say that I'm a 'hot wife,' as you call it!"

"Congratulations girlfriend! So how are you going to use your new freedom? What's your next adventure?"

"Well, truthfully Jill, I don't see much changing. I'll hang out with Tommy once in a while. Beyond that, it's not like I'm going to hook up with the next man I meet!

"I'm happy with the life I have now. While it might be nice to get together with Tommy once in a while, guilt free, I have no intention of doing so regularly. I don't need a new boyfriend. I already have plenty of sex. It's not like I'm starving for more!"

Later that day, Mary stopped at the grocery store to pick up some necessities, as well as the garlic and shrimp that Steve asked her to buy, for the tapas he would be preparing that evening for dinner.

She stopped at the Wine Store and picked up two bottles of Triton Tempranillo, a Spanish red, that Steve had added to her shopping list.

Mary returned home by 5:00 pm. She opened the first bottle of wine to allow it to breathe. Steve fought through traffic and arrived home at 5:45 pm. Upon seeing Mary in the kitchen, he wrapped his arms around her, squeezed her tight, and gave her a big, wet, kiss.

Steve then turned to the fridge and pulled out the Manchego, Iberico and Cabrales, that he had purchased on Sunday. He unwrapped the cheeses and placed them on the cheese board, before adding a stack of crackers, and a few olives. He picked up the open bottle of Tempranillo and poured it generously into the two red wine glasses Mary had set out.

Before taking a sip, Steve left his glass on the kitchen counter and walked upstairs to change out of his suit, into shorts, a t-shirt and slides.

Mary, glass in hand, followed and walked into the bedroom behind Steve. She changed out of her art stained t-shirt and yoga pants, and changed into her shorts and her tight black tank top. The tank top was rather low cut and showed off her cleavage. Without her bra, her soft medium nipples were visible through the fabric. But only Steve, and the young couple next store, Justin and Audrey, and their months old baby, were likely to see her.

"Why not be casual?" she thought.

She then quickly brushed her long red hair so that it was out of her face and cascading gently off her shoulders and down her back. She went back downstairs and slipped into her flipflops.

Steve met Mary in the kitchen a moment later. He picked up his glass of wine, held it forward to offer a toast, and looked at Mary,

"To love." Toasted Steve.

"To love!" Mary beamed back at him, as she held up her glass to clink with Steve's.

They each dug into the Spanish cheese. Steve sliced a piece of Manchego. Mary started with the Cabrales, quickly followed by a mouthful of the Tempranillo. She appreciated how the wine stood up to the ripe blue wedge of Cabrales. They sat down on the barstools by their small bar, in front of the cheese board.

"How was work today?" Mary asked.

"I finished a critical project, but became drawn into drama in another one. It looks like I'll have some travel coming up as a result.

"But I have to tell you," Steve continued, "I was certainly distracted today thinking about everything. You are on my mind, a lot."

"Well, that's nice to know." Mary faintly smiled. "I'm thinking about you too. You are so sweet."

"Also, though I knew you had a busy day, with your art class today and running to the store. I still couldn't help wondering if you were doing something crazy, like sneaking over to Tommy's or even hitting on that trainer at the gym. It's just because this is so top of mind right now-"

Mary laughed out loud when Steve said this. She quickly reached her right hand over and put it on top of Steve's arm as it rested on the bar.

"Honey, I think I need to set you straight on a few things so that your expectations do not run wild."

Steve smiled at Mary, knowing he sounded ridiculous.

"Don't expect me to be running off to see Tommy constantly. I have an active life now, that I like." Mary started.

"I know you think about sex a lot. I do enjoy it," she winked, "as you know. But I am a woman in my fifties! I have other priorities, as do you! I am not suddenly going to be out there doing all sorts of crazy things.

"I can imagine an occasional tryst with Tommy, and as time goes on, who knows, maybe someone else emerges.

"I certainly don't ever see myself as a cougar, chasing after young, hot guys. You won't catch me drooling over younger men with their buff bodies. I prefer a man who is more seasoned. Maturity, and the humility that comes with having learned life's hard lessons, are what I find sexy in a man."

After eating several pieces of an assortment of Manchego, Cabrales and Iberico and nearly polishing off their first glass of Triton, Steve picked up the bottle to pour more wine for the two of them.

"Since we are talking about these things I've been thinking about something else." Mary said slowly to Steve, as if she was not sure she wanted to to tread where she was treading.

"What's that?" Steve asked, with that look of anxiety he would get when Mary tells him she has been thinking about something.

"I know we are celebrating each other, and sincerely connecting on how we make each more complete and stronger."

"Yes?" Steve says, wondering where this is going.

Mary went on, "This narrative has developed that I just got up one day and cheated on you, with reckless abandon. It just happened to turn you on, and now it's all good."

"Um."

Mary continued, "Do you remember years ago when you were always talking during sex?"

"Always?"

"Yes. Thankfully you stopped. We'd be having sex, and you would start in with all of your fantasies. I would be wondering to myself, 'Does he realize we are having sex right now, and he keeps bringing up things we are not currently doing, and saying we should do those things?'"

"I think, maybe, once or twice." Steve offered.

"Oh please. It was constant." Mary protested, "I don't mean to bring up the past like this. Thankfully you eventually stopped all of that talking and our sex life improved dramatically."

"Um." Steve mumbled, "You said to me, 'Why don't you shut the fuck up while we're fucking.' I stopped after that."

"Thankfully! I am glad you listened to me, Steve."

"So what is your point?"

"So Steve, sweetie, your favorite fantasy was to tell me I should go out on my own, meet a stranger in a bar or someplace, and fuck them."

"So, many years ago, during sex, I shared a fantasy with you that you used as justification for last week?" Steve retorted, sounding annoyed.

"Honestly, Steve. I did what I did for me. I won't lie about that, and I take responsibility for it. Your fantasy did not stop there though. You would go on to say, that for the rest of our lives, if you should ever question my right to have a secret tryst, I should simply tell you that you gave me permission on that night, many nights, actually.

"Well still."

"I know." Mary said. "But when I weighed the pros and cons of what I was about to do, that lifetime permission slip was not forgotten." Mary smiled and touched Steve's face gently and lovingly.

Steve broke out into a smile. "You would have used that permission slip wouldn't you?" he joked.

"Not now. I'm filing it away for future use!" Mary needled him back, as she leaned over to kiss him.