0 comments/ 10111 views/ 0 favorites Brief Encounters:... By: Badger Brief Encounters: a Modern Cliché For Eva & Louise * * * * * The clichéd crowded room engulfs us - our eyes meet and linger for moments too long for the communication to be misunderstood. You briefly consider my physical demeanor - perhaps one that's normally forgotten in a second but there is that certain something behind it. My eyes tell you all you need to know about the excitement to follow as they look straight through the façade of social pleasantries and meaningless conversation. You're eager to know the depth of my being but do I know what you want? Have I seen through the window to your heart and desire and in that instant is it this that has stirred your curiosity? . Perhaps I have - you've seen mine, although you may not know that yet, we look away but in that fleeting glimpse we're primed and the timer is set. However no opportunity for closer contact presents itself that evening but our minds are inextricably linked by that exhilarating event. We wonder if we really had the same effect on each other and we begin to doubt if the situation was as sexually charged as it was. Daydreaming relives the experience and we use this tool to further the episode. The beauty of daydreaming is that everything falls into place and we embellish the plot to ensure that we are irresistible to each other physically and mentally, leading to its ultimate conclusion of the most mind-blowing fuck we have ever had. Perhaps we include our unwitting partners in this fantasy - almost to the point where they are pleased and surprised how we were so much more enthusiastic in our efforts to give pleasure and be pleasured by them. We assure ourselves that because all this happens in our minds we cannot be branded as unfaithful - but isn't that what makes it so deliciously wicked. Because it all happens in that secret vault of thought and imaginary deed - there is no way we can possibly get caught. Gradually our lives continue as before the buzz of that night, then incredibly and what seems an eternity later a chance encounter or casual introduction affords us the opportunity to actually realize those fantasies. You are even more devastating when you are within touching distance, I try to act cool but I feel like I'm in a minefield, a wrong move or word and those wonderful "real" fantasies will be blown to bits. You seem so cool but you too feel the pressure of reliving those visions where it all fell into place. Your mouth wasn't parched then, you didn't spill your drink, and I didn't laugh too loud, or seem so overly enthusiastic about everything. Then the words dry momentarily but long enough to look into each other's eyes - not AT like we have all night - into...there it is as it was before. We can see it all so clearly, there is no need for this completely irrelevant verbal communication. The whole meaning of our initial contact was not mistaken and now the safety catch is off. We continue to speak but do not listen, our eyes take in all we need to know and suddenly there is music - a song known and liked by both of us but shared with another lover perhaps. How does the singer know us.? Why do all his words apply now when before they were just words? I take your hand to lead you to the dance floor, just an innocent dance.? Acceptable social but increasingly sexual foreplay has now lit the fuse. That innocent dance.... Only our clothes stop this being inappropriate, your real perfume fills my head, your sensual shape and movement serve only to encourage me to touch you more - you get moist when I do and you move closer, much too close, your hand strays lower than it should, an accident? Only to the innocent bystander. Then it is too much - you turn as if to say something but your lips brush lightly on my neck - you know the exact place and I'm lost - I look deep into your eyes that welcome me more than mere words could ever do and I'm lost. I could drown in those bottomless pools. We are alone - how and where? It matters not and there is no need for words, our eyes and hearts and bodies have betrayed the physical and mental urgency now upon us. We hate every second that clothes deny us the shiver of subtle intimate contact. Trembling fingers fumble with buttons and zips and clasps and catches. You strip me bare while I stop short to leave you like a work of art framed with expensive lingerie. Those black silk stockings and g-string eternally etched on my mind. Your whole self is an erogenous zone, to touch you anywhere would be enough, I do and it is. We speak in silence and yet say everything to one another, we both know each other's desires - hot lips inflame the passion, burning need is fired by butterfly kisses, heightened pleasure spurred by electric fingers. My excitement is obvious and after easing away the scrap of silk covering that promise of delight, so to is yours, your honey flow is enticing and more bountiful to my unhurried, tantalizing oral caress. You abandon yourself to the demands your body has made on you coupled with the continuing and remorseless stimulation from my tongue teasing that button and from my lips on your lips. The waves build and build and you writhe to try to get away without wanting to get away. You hold my head tenderly but firmly, don't fear I will not disappoint you. Then it begins to surge through your body, you're flushed, heart racing, toes and fingers curl you hold that one last breath for fear if you breathe you might lose it - then explode in ecstasy, your being stiffens and shakes in its conclusion. But you need more and you know your selfishness is also my desire - you take control and you give to me as I give to you. I lay back as your mouth closes on its target your fingers are everywhere prompting my stiffening response. Your efforts are rewarded as the flesh hardens and extends to its full length and its spasmodic jerks become more and more frequent. It seems to have a mind of its own and your persistent attention makes the pleasure almost unbearable but you do not stop - you know my gift is inevitable but still you do not stop, that flicking tongue, encircling fingers and hot wet mouth....oh my mind is spinning and my body arches to finally impart that gift, that hot lava stream given and taken with such joy. Somehow by your loving ministrations you give this unattractive appendage an unlikely beauty and the hard flesh is still not lost. We both know that only penetration can make us one. As you sit astride me there is no resistance, no pretence, no guilt or shame, it fills you completely, stretching your very inside so that all of you can know all of me. Still even that is not enough and you rise and fall to feel it stretching you again and again and again. My hands roam and linger - those beautiful breasts, your neck and shoulders, the small of your back, the roundness of your buttocks and that velvet skin. I gently pinch, stroke and caress you bringing increased gratification, your climax starts to well inside you and surprises you with its sudden consequence - not as intense as earlier but ecstatic nonetheless and so you continue harder and faster. You want more, it's a drug to you now and yet again you spend. You know I can't hold on any longer as you feel my swollen member burst with that searing tell-tale liquid heat which heralds your own personal finish....completely sated and still joined, we hold each other tightly.....no need for words, our souls have been bared to each other and we could both die in the bliss of the afterglow. Brief Encounters Many thanks to HMAuthor for first editing and improving this story. Special thanks to winterhunny713 for fresh perspectives and challenges that resulted in major improvements. It's all the more remarkable because this writer/editor's own stories are suffused with emotion, sensuality and descriptive detail -- at the other end of the spectrum from mine. So if you want to bathe in steamy and passionate eroticism instead of taking a cold shower, check them out, and you might join the community of fans that winterhunny713 interacts with. * The gorgeous woman came over to me at the bar on the last night of the conference. She blindsided me because I had been gazing at another woman. "I'm trying to figure out your system," she said. "What do you mean?" "Well, you asked someone to take a picture of our breakout session yesterday morning and you made sure you stood next to me," she said. "And yesterday you were looking at me in the bar from across the room. But you've never said a word to me." I looked down at her hands. "That's because you're married," I said, which made her laugh. I liked her laugh. It was a full, honest laugh; she didn't hold back. "That was a good one," she said. "We both know that's not it. I've been trying to imagine what you do with those photos, and most of my ideas are really perverse." "Care to share them?" I asked. She laughed again. "You ARE good. I see you're married, too. Would you like your wife to see those photos?" "As a matter of fact, I will show them to her when I go home," I said. "She's interested in my work." "You don't say," she said and was thoughtful for a moment. "I think I've just figured it out. Maybe you're a genius, or a pervert, or both. Now I'm going to blackmail you, so listen carefully. I promise I won't make any trouble for you if you agree to do as I say tomorrow. It's only a half-day, but I'll be with you as much as I can. I will take pictures of you next to good-looking women, and you'll take pictures of me next to good-looking men. Before we leave, you'll upload the pictures of me onto my laptop. Got it." "All except the blackmail part," I said. "If you say anything about my photos, which are totally innocuous group shots, I'm going to tell everyone the truth, which is that you came over to me tonight and started talking dirty. I think I can pass a lie detector test on that one. As for accusing me of looking at you across the room, I don't think you'll want to make yourself ridiculous by bringing that up. On the other hand, I think your idea is terrific, and I'm looking forward to working with you. By the way, my name is Val. I know I've seen you in the building, but I don't know who you are or which department you work in." ******* I saw the woman from work -- her name was Jolie -- a few times at the office after that. We nodded at each other. She was at a convention with me five months later, and after the Wednesday night session, I was sitting in the bar and saw her make a beeline for me. "Val, it was amazing," she said. "For the first two nights, all he had to do was look at the photos, and we were off to fantastic sex. On the third night, he wanted me to tell him about the men. He was disappointed when I told him I just posed next to them to get him jealous and excited. So I started to make up stories. I could tell right away that's what he wanted. You know what? Some of my stories got me excited, too." "That's because you're a woman," I said. "Thanks a lot," she said. "So your wife likes stories, too. How do you come up with them?" "That's what I do when I stare at women in the bar," I said. "It's not connected to the photos at all. When I'm taking pictures, all I do is look for a hot woman to stand next to. But when I'm in the bar, I look around and try to spot a woman who's far across the room. I sneak glances at her and start imagining meeting her and seducing her or her seducing me in her room or mine. Then I start making notes, so I don't forget the story. Sometimes, I see the woman catching me looking at her> If she starts returning my glances, I get up and leave, so I don't give her the wrong idea." "You've got a great system," she said. "I don't think it would work for a woman. Let me tell you something strange. After a couple of weeks, I was worried that my husband might really believe me, so I told him that I was happy about how excited my stories made him, but I promised him that I would never cheat on him. You know what he said?" "Yes," I said. "Something like this. He appreciated your telling him, but from now on you didn't need to remind him, because it was much more exciting to imagine you might really do the things you were telling him." "Right," she said, "and look what he bought me." She pulled out an expensive miniature camera, one of those spy type cameras that takes high resolution photos and can be in a sleeve or a pocket." "We're going to take turns using this at this convention," she said. "Deal?" "Deal," I said. Our company finished buying out a competitor a week after the conference, and the week after that, the CEO scheduled a retreat for the acquisition's top executives to get to know us. It was only a month after the convention. After the first session, I saw my co-conspirator in the bar. "You know what my husband said to me yesterday before I left?" Jolie said. "He said he wouldn't mind if I seduced you." "My wife said the same thing," I said. "Do you think they talked it over?" She laughed. "What an imagination you have," she said. "You know, even though I never talk to you except out of town, I feel like I know you a little bit. You are an attractive man with a good sense of humor, and you don't cheat. If I had met you before my husband, who knows?" "And you are one of the most beautiful women I've ever met," I said, "although you're one of those women who takes pride in her brains. I'm sure the fact that you figured out my game gave you more of a thrill than me telling you you're beautiful." "Not necessarily," she said. "So your husband knows about us?" I said. "I bet it's for the same reason my wife knows about you." "Yes," said Jolie. "When I came home with all those photos last time, he said I must not have attended any work sessions. So I told him how you helped me and I helped you so we could get quite a bit done in a short time. He asked a lot of questions about you." "After I told her about you, my wife wore me out, with her questions," I said. "After she grilled me, she had more orgasms in one night than I've ever seen. Is this getting too graphic, Jolie? Tell me if I'm offending you." "I'm glad you realize that we could both be fired for inappropriate behavior," she said, and she quickly looked around before looking at me again. "You and I are taking big chances. What if you or I was unstable and complained to management about sexual harassment. "You're right," I said. "Even though it would destroy both our careers, I've seen stranger things happen. I feel I can totally trust you, but I've seen people change. Are you one of those people like my boss who believes people never change?" "No," she said. "And the proof is myself. Talking like this and what I'm doing to please my husband are two things I've never done before. I got an uneasy feeling the last time I spoke about you to my husband and regretted ever starting this. The rewards aren't worth the risks." "I've been feeling strange, too," I said. "I guess I was naive in thinking it was all innocent fun. When she told me she wouldn't be angry if I slept with you, she sounded like she really wanted me to do it so I could tell her about it. I'm sure she didn't, but it got me worried." "That's exactly the way I felt when my husband spoke to me," she said. "He didn't come out and say it like your wife did, but I could tell that's what he was implying. What are we going to do?" "Well, we can't do anything now," I said. "I think we've been talking here too long already. If the word gets around that we're fraternizing, we'll be fired even though we're in different departments. That's company policy." "Why don't you come to my room tonight after the evening session," she said. "Don't look at me that way. I will be fully dressed, and there won't be any drinks. We can work on our stories together and get them done fast and you can sneak back to your room." "OK," I said. "We've already got the beginning of the story done, about talking in the bar and me sneaking to your room." ***** "I'm worried, Val," said Jolie. It was four months after the merger retreat, and we were at a retreat. She had come over to where I was eating breakfast alone and asked me to come to her room so we could talk privately. This was really risky because it was daytime, and someone might accidentally spot me going in there. "Me, too," I said. "I think this is the last time we are going to meet, and I'm not taking any photos at this conference." "I hope that works, Val," she said. "I picked up the phone at least three times to call you in the last couple of months, but I felt I couldn't break our unwritten agreement just because I felt trapped. After the merger conference, my husband didn't want to hear anything about the men in the photos. All he wanted to talk about was you. "He was disappointed with my story of our hotel room rendezvous and even accused me of lying, because he was sure we did a lot more than what I made up. He wanted to know details about you, about your body, about your sex equipment. He's obsessed by you. "He said that he never really felt like a cuckold when I was posing with the other men, but thinking about me and you, he really feels degraded. I wanted to slap him and remind him that all my stories were fiction, but he was so excited when he said the word 'degraded' that I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. The sex has been great, but the way he talks disturbs me. I'm crying myself to sleep a lot of nights. What have I done to our marriage?" "My wife said she'd like to meet your husband. She's sure they have a lot in common. I said under no conditions was she to try to contact him. Then she asked me to take pictures of you naked at this meeting. Not just naked, but in certain positions. She even went to a porn star's blog and showed me photos of the positions she wanted. I couldn't believe it." "He wants naked photos of you, too," said Jolie. "I asked him if he was bisexual, but he said, no, all he wanted was photos of you before and after you are aroused and that would help him picture us making love. He said he really wanted photos of you having sex with me, but didn't think I would go for that. It's time to stop all of this now. I'm not going to see you again, and I'm bringing nothing home to my husband. He scares me when he talks like this; he doesn't sound like the man I married. I want to go back to what we had before we started doing this." "I feel the same way, Jolie," I said. "I'm just worried what my wife is going to do when I return empty-handed." *** I was on my third cup of coffee at my desk when Jolie called on Monday morning. It was the first time she had ever called me, but I wasn't surprised. "I have to see you tonight," she said in between sobs. "I'm in such a state that I had to call in sick. Can you meet me at the Denny's on the next block at eight? It should be mostly empty by then." "Yes," I said. "Last night was a long night for me, too." When she joined me in the booth her eyes were red and her voice was almost robotic. "I thought I knew my husband," she said. "It was horrible seeing him go ballistic, but even worse was when he calmed down. He told me that even though I didn't tell him your real name, he would find out. No, he doesn't want to talk to you. He wants to talk to your wife. I don't know what to do. "I think my wife will find him, before he finds her," I said. "I can't even imagine what they will say to each other. I've never seen her this way. I don't know what to do." "I'm not giving up, Val," she said as she took one of my hands and held it tightly. I looked down at her hands on mine and up at her. "Jolie, forgive me," I said. "You're so beautiful and sexy that I sometimes forget what a wonderful person you are. Your stupid husband doesn't deserve someone who loves him as much as you do. And I'm the one who started all your troubles. I feel terrible." "Don't say that, Val," she said. "If I hadn't been so smug about confronting you that first time in the bar, this would never have happened. You had your arrangement with your wife, and you both were happy. But I had to butt in. I should apologize to your wife and ask her to forgive me." "That would be a mistake, Jolie," I said. "The last thing she wants right now is an apology from you. She's not herself. But you're right. We have to stick this out and figure out a way to bring them to their senses." I was looking down at her hands, which were still holding mine. They were beautiful and elegantly manicured. They showed her class, but they were also warm and comforting. I looked up at her face and saw she was staring at me and crying. I put my other hand on top of our hands and squeezed them. She looked down to the four hands together and then looked me in the face again and slowly pulled her hands back. ****** "What?" she said. I stared at her and couldn't find the strength to speak. "What?" she repeated. "What's wrong, Val?" "Nothing," I finally said. She was standing a few feet from me. "I imagined what you would look like naked, but my imagination failed me. You are the most beautiful woman in the world. Until you undressed just now, I never thought I'd see someone who turned me on more than my wife, but you did it." "I'm turning red, Val, so maybe you should start taking pictures now," she said. "It will look like I'm aroused. Do you have that list of disgusting poses your wife gave you? I'll get on the bed, and you can read them to me. Let's get this over with." "You don't shave your pubic hair," I said. "I was sure that you were a naked oyster down there, but you've got a bigger bush than my wife. She calls it her forest, but you've got a jungle. You have no idea how that turns me on." "Yes I do," said Jolie, "because you sound like my husband. Sometimes he gets lost in the jungle, and I have to lift his head up and remind him there's more to do. Come on. We need to finish this, because we have early meetings tomorrow." "OK," I said. "I still can't believe I'm doing this." "We've been over that, Val," she said. "What choice do we have? I'm on the bed and I'm waiting. That sounds bad, doesn't it? I'm sorry." "God, you look amazing," I said. "I want you so badly right now. Sorry. Please forgive me. Do you remember the first one or should I read it to you?" "I can't forget it," said Jolie. She lay back on some pillows and spread her knees wide so that her lips were open and you could see her moist red vagina surrounded by her thicket of dark hair. I was supposed to use my tongue or have her masturbate until she was aroused but I saw that wasn't necessary. I took photos of her whole body and then some close-ups. We continued through the rest of the poses, each one more degrading than the one before. After I finished with my list, she picked up her camera and said, "This will go a lot faster. Please get undressed." "Aren't you going to dress," I said. "Not now. I want to finish and get you out of here. Come on, faster." I looked at her while I undressed and saw her breasts heaving as she watched me. They still had the rosy color of arousal. "I see that I'm not going to get any photos of you when you're soft," she said with a strange laugh. "My poses must have turned out on. OK, stand over there. Now thrust out from your hips. Now I give up. Think up some poses. I don't know what to do. That's good. Keep going. He wants video, too. He would like to see you come. I told him over my dead body. OK, I think that's enough. Get dressed and get out of here." "May I ask what you're going to do when I leave," I said. "No, you may not, but you may guess it's the same thing you're going to do when you get back to your room. We are as bad as our spouses. We're all disgusting animals, I guess, so we deserve each other." She laughed, but it was the strange laugh again, not the wonderful honest one that I noticed the first time we met. "What happened to us?" she asked. "Not us. You haven't changed. You're still the loving husband who took some photos as a joke to see if he could make his wife jealous and then found out she got turned on by them. She's the one who has changed, and my husband -- and me." "What are you talking about, Jolie," I said. "Of all of us, you haven't changed at all. You're still thinking about everyone else first and yourself last. What did I say? Why are you crying?" "Val, you can't see it, but I've changed the most. If I told you how much, you would have nothing but contempt for me. I can't tell you how much I disgust myself. But I'll still try to save my marriage. It's hard for me to believe my husband and your wife would be willing to leave us over this. I even thought of calling their bluff." "It wouldn't have worked," I said. "As soon as we sat down with them, I realized how much in tune they were. They spoke like one person. It's a good thing we were on our toes, because otherwise it could have been worse." "Yes," she said. "I'm glad you put your foot down and said nothing was going to happen until we were at a conference out of town. They wanted us to get together that week." "I tried to keep them from going crazy," I said, "but I wasn't that successful because here we are. I don't know how, but we have to find a way to stop this." *** Two months later, we were sitting across from each other at a small table in a fancy hotel room in our home town. We were staring at each other, and I felt as though I were in a trance. She was crying. "What are we going to do, Val?" she said. "Why are we here with all the lights and the video cameras on tripods?" "It's better than what they wanted to do," I said. "I couldn't believe they wanted to film us themselves." "But you know that's what they'll demand next time," she said. "They can't stop themselves. And they've both become cruel and sadistic. They're no longer satisfied with us making love. They want us to hurt and humiliate each other for the cameras so they can see it. I have a list of what I'm supposed to do to you, but I'm not allowed to tell you. I have to be sneaky, so you will be surprised for the camera. "Some of it is really degrading and painful, and they've even figured out that you will resist and told me how to trick you so that when you realize what's happening, it will be too late. I'm sure your list has similar things for you to do to me. Val, Val, wake up! Did you hear a word I said?" I shook myself. "Yes," I said, "I heard, but I've been thinking, Jolie. I've gone along with everything my wife wanted up to now because I felt I was the one who started this. Last time, when you were posing in those degrading positions, it was painful because I didn't want to be aroused like that. I wanted to stop and take you in my arms. It took all my will power to keep from touching you and trying pull you down to my level and turn you and me into sleazy cheaters. "If my wife had said to make love to you and film it, I might have gone along with that. But she told me she wants that kind of sex only for herself. For you, she wants humiliation. I think that's what finally did it. "She's gone too far. I don't think she even understands how evil this is. I don't wish her any harm, but I've decided, I'm not going to do these things to you. Do you know, her list says I should try to put my hand inside your vagina?" Brief Encounters "One of the things he wants me to do is twist your balls around until you're doubled up in pain," she said. "They see those things on the Internet." "I'm not going to do any of the things she wants," I said. "I respect you too much. More than I respect my wife." "Then what are we going to do," she said. "I don't know about you, but I've decided that I've lost my wife. My love for her has disappeared. I'm not going back to her tonight, and the next time we meet, it will be with our lawyers. There's only one good thing about this. We were talking about starting a family next year. Thank goodness this happened before any kids were involved." "It's so nice that you want children, Val," said Jolie. "I told my husband that I want to take a few years off from work to have children. He makes plenty of money, and we wouldn't have to sacrifice much. But he keeps putting me off. I'm scared that he doesn't want children at all." "But you must have something special with him, Jolie," I said, "since you are willing to do what he asks. I thought I knew you pretty well. I was thinking that you would be the first one to stop this. But I was mistaken." "How can you say something like that, Val," she said. "I am more disgusted with myself than you can imagine. And now you won't cooperate, so I'm going to lose everything." "No you won't," I said, "I'll let you do some of the things on your list and act surprised for the cameras. I'm sure I won't have to fake my pain and humiliation, so your husband and my wife will enjoy that. It's my parting gift to you, to help you hold your marriage together. I'm sure you and he will find someone to replace me. As for my wife, I don't give a damn what she wants now." "Val," she said, sobbing, "why would you do this for me? You don't owe me anything." "Let's stop talking and get through this," I said. "Come on, stop crying. The reason you and I met in the first place is because we're successful executives. The company knows that we can establish priorities and achieve goals despite obstacles. Our only goal now is to save your marriage." "What are your goals, Val?" she said. "I hope they don't include friendship, because we will never be friends after what I do to you today." I ignored her words. "Let's get this finished," I said. "What's the first thing on your little list of surprises." "It's one of the most frightening ones," she said. "We're supposed to get into the 69 position with me on top. We'll start by giving each other oral, and then when you're all aroused and not thinking, I'm supposed to scoot forward until I'm sitting on your stomach. Then I bounce up and down on your until I knock the wind out of you and you are helpless. You can't stop me from fastening your hands to the bedposts with some restraints I've brought. Then I put restraints on your ankles and pull them back until I can fasten them next to your hands. That will bend you over almost double and put your ass high in the air. Then I get the lube I've brought and push a lot of it in your ass. Then I start putting fingers into you and keep adding them until I can get my whole hand inside." "OK," I said, shuddering. "That's pretty heavy stuff. We'll do it just like they wrote it, except you won't have to jump up and down on me. You can pretend to, but I'll let you put the restraints on me. "Jolie, all my feelings for my wife are gone now, but I hate your husband with a passion. He has no clue about how lucky he is to be able to just look at you every day. And on top of that, there's your warmth, your loyalty, your love. You are an amazing woman. You could make any man fall in love with you and do anything you asked." She lowered herself onto my mouth, and I got to work. I felt her respond immediately. I hoped she would let me pleasure her for a while before she began following her husband's orders. I felt her mouth suck me in, and I was in heaven. Then she took her mouth off and lifted up her head as she began responding to my tongue. I felt her body twitch and little squeals come from her mouth. So this is what she sounds like when she's coming. It excited me so much that I doubled my efforts as she bent down and sucked me back in. Suddenly, her mouth was gone from my penis, and at the same time, her bush lifted off my mouth. I heard her scream "Nooooooooooo!" at the top of her lungs as she jumped off the bed, and I wondered for an instant if anyone in an adjoining room or the hallway had heard her scream. I turned on my side, and I saw her standing next to the bed looking at me with flaring nostrils and frightened eyes. She was trying to breathe deeply and slowly, as if to keep from hyperventilating. "What's wrong?" I said, but she couldn't answer for a couple of minutes until she had calmed down. The look of horror had left her face, and it was replaced with one of her steely expressions, the kind I saw during team-building exercises at the seminars. "What's wrong?" I said again. "Everything's wrong?" she said. "I can't believe what I almost did. I was just going forward blindly, like an employee who knows his boss has made a terrible mistake but is too frightened to tell her and is going along even though she knows it will be disastrous for both of them and the company. And I would have kept going, because I violated the first rule we learned in that seminar on negotiating last year. I didn't hear. "I listened, but I didn't hear. But just now I finally heard. It was just pure luck that I heard in time. I might have heard tomorrow, and it would have been too late. Oh my god! I'm so frightened. What if I hadn't heard until tomorrow?" She began sobbing. "What are you talking about, Jolie," I said. "I don't understand a word you're saying." She tried to stop crying, and finally, with difficulty, she managed it. "I'm talking about you, Val, you," she said. "You told me, and I listened, but I didn't hear. Will you ever forgive me for what I almost did?" "Jolie, please," I said. "This is badf enough without the extra drama. Good, turn those cameras off for now. We're going to wipe out everything and start over." "You're right that we're going to wipe out everything, Val," she said, "but we're not starting over. You... you... you said it." She was starting to cry again. "Did you mean it?" "Jolie, I'm lying here naked with a huge hard-on, and even though you're acting wild, I'm so turned on by looking at you that I can't stand it. On top of that, you're infuriating me. Why do women talk in riddles? Why can't they tell men what's on their minds in words that we understand?" "I'm sorry, Val," she said. "I've calmed down now. You said something before to me, and I want to make sure I heard right. Did you say that I was an amazing woman that I could make any man fall in love with me and he'd do anything for me?" "Yes," I said. "What's wrong with that? Why should that set you off? I don't see why..." "Who is any man?" she said, interrupting me. "What?" "Who is any man?" she repeated. "I don't understand, Jolie?" "Who is the any man who could fall in love with me and do anything for me?" "What are you talking about, Jolie, that's just an expression." "Are you any man, Val? Are you?" "I told you it was just an expression." "Do you love me, Val?" I had no answer for that one. I sat up in bed and looked at her. She was shaking, and I started to slide toward her, but she raised her hand toward me to stop. "Why don't you answer, Val?" she said. "Is it my fault? I didn't want to break up your marriage. That time you were holding my hands at the restaurant, I realized that I had loved you for some time. I wanted to tell you, but I knew that you would be disgusted with me if I did. You would figure I was just interested in a cheap affair after all. I hated you for being so much better than me. I knew if I told you my feelings, it would be the end of ever seeing you. So I pretended -- even to myself -- that I was just helping us keep our marriages together. "The first time we were naked together, I was even hoping that I could excite you enough for you to forget your vows. That's why I insisted on staying naked after you finished shooting me. I was hoping that something would happen while I was shooting you. But you aren't that kind of man, Val. You don't cheat and betray. I don't either, but I was ready to do it with you. "When you told me your marriage was over today, I had a brief moment of hope. But I could see that you expected me to stay with my husband. Why didn't you try to talk me out of it, Val? If you had, I might have thought that you wanted me like I wanted you. I was scared. I'm not as strong as you. I wasn't ready to lose both you and my husband and be left with nothing. "So I would have done those things to you, Val, because my mind was so confused that I listened to you, but I didn't hear you. Don't tell me about women talking in code. You men do the same thing. "Val, I've come to my senses. You've given me the strength to leave him. I had good years with him, and I wish him many good years with another woman. So don't worry about me anymore. Whatever you say, I'll be all right. But I need to know, Val. Don't play games with me. Don't tell me something you think I want to hear. Just tell me the truth. Are you any man, Val? Is that you?" "Yes it is, Jolie," I admitted. "I started feeling it when we were spending all that time together taking those photos with your husband's spy camera. But I still loved my wife, and I was sure you had no feelings for me, and even if you did, I wouldn't turn you into a cheater. So my love had to stay a secret. And when I saw you were willing to degrade me and yourself today, I was sure it was because you still loved your husband and wanted to save your marriage." "How can two executives be so poor at communicating," she said as she walked over to me. She pushed me down on my back and jumped on top of me and gave me a deep kiss that lasted forever. When she took her mouth from mine, we were both panting. "You need to learn how to breathe with your nose," she said. "You do, too," I said quickly because I saw her mouth was moving toward mine again. We kissed nakedly for almost 10 minutes. My erection was bent back under me. Finally, Jolie got off of me, and it caught her eye. "What do we do now, Val?" she said. "Well, you gave me a lot of time to think just now," I said. "Did you know that a man can be totally into a deep kiss while his mind keeps on going in other directions? I was thinking we ought to make a video for your ex-husband and my ex-wife to give them when we tell them about us. "But it's not going to be the video they expect. I want to make love to my future bride for the first time, and I want it to be tender. I want our bodies to become one and move as one. I want to give you so much pleasure that you won't be able to handle it, and I want to watch your body as it tries. I want to delay my orgasm until you set a world record for orgasms, and then I want to explode like a rocket inside you. I'm even hoping we can conceive our first child." "Is that all?" Jolie said and laughed. "No," I said. "There are some things on those lists they gave us that I'd like to try, some of the kinky stuff that's exciting but not painful. But only the stuff that you like, too. I don't want you to do anything degrading." "Unless I want to, my future husband," she said. "As your wife, I have the right to do anything I want to do, whether I like it or not." "You're getting a little confusing again," I said, "but whatever you say, I want to hear it. So if you agree, we'll erase the videos in all the cameras and start over. We'll make a wonderful video for them, but we're not going to give it to them." "We're not?" "No. We'll tell them that the video is not exactly what they wanted, but if they still want to see it, we'll show it to them at the party to celebrate the divorce decrees, and they can watch it on the huge screen in our home theater. I'm sure they'll take us up on the offer. "After that, it's for us only. I don't plan on making any more videos. After today, everything that happens in our bed -- or wherever we choose to make love -- is for us only." "And if we go out of town for business, it always has to be both of us," said Jolie. "No, I take that back. I trust you, Val, and if you're somewhere without me, I won't be worried. "There's a lot of free time at some of the company meetings. If you or I are at a conference alone, what do we do now?" She laughed, and it was a laugh of relief. "I don't know about you," I said, "but I have a hobby now and an expensive camera. I'm going to be taking photographs. Most of the resorts have beautiful landscaping and gardens, and I'm going to specialize in nature photography. And when I come home, I'm going to bore you with all my photos." "That sounds nice," Jolie said, "but why would I be bored? I'm sure your photos will be beautiful." "You don't know much about photography, Jolie," I said, "but if you ever take a class, you'll find out in the first lesson that if a photo doesn't have a person in it, it's boring. And you're never going to see one human in any of my photos."