The Bridge Club

"My god, �� I�m lonely!"

The words sounded hollow in the huge house; not even an echo because of all the carpets and drapes. The past few months have convinced me that life alone is not for me. Jack and I living together for all these years created a dependency that only comes clear now that I am alone. No matter what life together had in the way of complications, the uncomplicated life alone is �. .. complicated. The silence of the house bore down around me and I felt purposeless.

Getting with old friends is a problem. Most of them are married and you know what they say about three being a crowd. Even getting together with the girls is difficult because they don�t understand exactly why Jack and I are separated and they feel uncomfortable about it. Conversation becomes tense and difficult.

I turned out the lights and went up to my lonely bed. It was not possible to think of what Jack might be doing. And yet, to call him would be giving in. I wasn�t ready for that, and besides, our conversations still become hostile. I blamed Jack, and he certainly blames me.

Fitful sleep led inevitably to another day dawning. It was Thursday, time for my weekly visit to Good Hair Lair and my longtime hairdresser, Joy.

"You know, Joanne, why don�t you and I go out for dinner sometime? It would be fun!" she said, tipping me back into the shampoo sink while she tested the water temperature.

I looked at Joy with a wry smile. I realized she was serious. Joy had been doing my hair for five years, at least. My weekly appointment was usually an adventure. Guessing what her hairstyle would be, guessing what new adventure her single-mother lifestyle had produced during the past week; it was always something new. We had a lot of laughs comparing our differing live styles over the years.

t would never have occurred to me that we had enough in common to make an evening together of interest. She is aware that I am on my own since Jack decided not to come home and she also knew that I was having my ups and downs. I had even told her of my young lover, to which her encouragement had been: "Good for you! You deserve it! About time you took care of Number 1!"

"You�re serious," I said, smiling into the gray-blue eyes framed today with black hair streaked generously with platinum, curving under her cheeks.

"Sure!" She should have been chewing gum to make the stereotypical hair stylist complete, but instead there was just that devilish grin with lots of white teeth behind bright red lipstick and a thorough make-up job. "Ever been to Captain Billy�s? You�ll love it."

I thought it over, staring at the ceiling, as Joy washed my hair and continued her steady flow of conversation. I said nothing, still thinking that it was a bit strange going out to dinner with Joy knowing that her nightlife included casual romantic adventures that spiced up her chatter.

As she spun me around to see the result of her labors, she grinned into the mirror.

"So, �. What �ya say?"

"Looks fine, as usual. You couldn�t take out those wrinkles while you�re at it, take about ten years off?"

She laughed at my joke.

"Hey, you�re looking great! Don�t need any years taken off. You�d be too much competition."

"So, �. What do you say, Joanne, want to take a walk on the wild side?"

I paused and stared into her eyes. Smiling self-consciously, I finally replied.

"Well, .. .. why not? It would be fun."

"Great, how about tonight?"

"OK, tonight it is! I had better drive and meet you, though. I think you might outlast me."

Billy himself greeted me at the door, leaning against one of those fake posts with a huge rope twined around it that seafood restaurants usually have.

"Bet you�re looking for Joy, Right?" He smiled expectantly, slapping the menu against his hand. "She told me to watch out for her glamorous girl friend."

He led me to the back of the bar area where Joy seemed deep in conversation with a good-looking guy in a tie and jacket. The music was quiet and the lighting subdued. Joy�s long legs flashed around toward me as I approached.

"Ah, there you are. Our table ready, Billy?"

She slipped off the tall stool, displaying silky legs as the young man gaped at her, then looked disappointed as his eyes took me in. Her skirt rode up over voluptuous thighs and she landed smilingly in front of me.

"Nice talking to you, Jeff. This is my friend, Joanne. Joanne, Jeff."

"Uh, hullo," He muttered, not forgetting to smile.

"Sorry I�m a little late," I apologized.

We went off to a table on the upper level of the plush restaurant, leaving Jeff looking longingly after Joy as she switched her cute little fanny through the maze of tables.

It was easy talking to Joy. We didn�t have the baggage that existed with my married friends, and I soon found myself letting it all hang out. My innerrmost thoughts about my life alone spilled out.

"So, are you seeing this young guy now?"

I looked into my lap for a moment before responding.

"Occasionally, yes. I can�t seem to resist �," I smiled sardonically into her smiling eyes.

"The sex is good, then, right?"

"Yes, the sex is good. He�s becoming a good lover, actually. I guess I�m addicted. I keep telling myself that I have to just cut it off, but then he comes home from school and, well �." I trailed off into silence and looked off over the restaurant, which beginning to fill up.

"Would I know him?" She laughed, realizing how that sounded. "I mean .."

"No, I don�t think so. Just one of the neighborhood hunks. It started as one of those sexual fantasy conversations that Jack brought up. But then, it got closer and closer to reality, and suddenly, �. It was real."

"No kidding, �.that is .. well, .. . wild!" She laughed and then stifled the laugh.

The wine was good and I found myself relaxing for the first time in weeks --relaxing and letting my hair down to an eager listener.

Dinner came and I picked at it, continuing to air my woes and not a little of my sexual adventures. Joy pressed carefully for more details, seeding the conversation with her own experiences.

" �. �. So, once in awhile I let someone take me home, .. .. you know, nothing serious, �. Just loneliness, .. well, also just needing to get laid, let�s face it." She laughed a bit too loudly and looked toward the bar self-consciously. "But, sex is good, for chrissake!" she ended, reaching to touch my wrist.

I nodded agreement. "I haven�t done the bar scene so far, Joy, but then, I am still married."

"So?" she said. "What do you think Jack is doing? You think he is sitting home looking out the window? Not likely!"

"You�re probably right. But, anyway, I don�t think I can do that. Wouldn�t solve my real problem, I guess."

"Where�s the little girls� room?" I said, looking around.

"That way; you go ahead, I�ll meet you in the bar, then, OK?"

The Ladies� Room was large and sparkling clean. As I washed my hands, I looked into the mirror into the eyes of the beautiful black girl next to me. She smiled.

"Hi."

"Hi, having a good time? Nice place isn�t it?" I said.

"Yes, and yes," She said, her white teeth brilliant against full red lips.

She was dressed tastefully, and the dress emphasized her gorgeous figure. The silk scarf around her neck was perfect with her skin color and with the dress. She looked enough like a model to be one. I watched as she fussed with the neckline, leaning forward to see how her cleavage looked. It looked lovely, her breasts round and inviting, even to another woman.

I followed her out and we chatted, walking together down the hall, and then parted as she turned down the steps to the lower level dining area. A row of plants served as a divider.

"Bye! Nice talking to you," She smiled.

I waved and then watched her pert bottom and swinging skirt as she walked gracefully down the stairs. I glanced around for Joy and then swept my eyes over the lower level to see the black girl join her date at a table in the back.

He was white.

He was older.

He was Jack!

A lump formed in my throat. I realized that I was very jealous. The jealous reaction burned. I wanted to storm over to the table and demand an explanation, but I didn�t. Instead, I turned and took my rage to the end of the bar where Joy was already in conversation with a man.

"This is my friend Joanne. Joanne, this is � did you say David?"

"Derek," he corrected, "glad to meet you, Joanne."

They were facing each other and Joy�s skirt draped across shapely legs. I couldn�t help thinking that her skirt tented across her thighs where you couldn�t see her panties, but formed a cave where a man�s eyes would begin yearning to see the panties just an inch from sight. I wondered if it was intentional. She touched his knee as she made a point. I wasn�t tuned in to the conversation yet, my mind and eyes being on the couple at the other end of the restaurant.

Derek signaled to a friend across the bar and I saw him make his way toward us. Derek introduced him as Craig. Craig turned on his brightest smile and asked me to dance.

"Yes, I�d love to," I smiled up at him. I realized this was crazy, but it wouldn�t hurt to give Jack something to think about, I thought.

Each time we turned, I looked out to see if Jack was looking our way, and each time I was disappointed. I wanted him to feel the same jealous, empty feeling that I had in seeing him. Craig�s hand slipped down from my waist to my hip. I thought a moment, then pressed closer to him. His hand smoothed across my back and stroked the band of my bra. I had to admit that it was a seductive thing to do, just hinting at intimacy, exploring my underwear. I felt his finger find the size tag under my dress and trace its outline.

"What are you doing, " I giggled, and looked up into his eyes.

Craig grinned. "Exploring, just exploring. Making a mental map," he laughed.

I laughed along with him and felt his thigh between mine as he turned to make that contact happen. My mound rode against his thigh and I felt his erection inside the thigh I was riding against. It felt nice, even though I had no intention of being picked up.

His hand pressed against my bottom, urging me closer. I pulled his hand back to respectability.

My mind was across the room, though. I finally decided that I had every right to stalk across the room and confront Jack. After all, we are still married and he is cheating on me, regardless of what I have done. "If he thinks he is going to go completely unscathed when he is out with some tramp, he has another think coming!" I thought.

Craig�s hand strayed lower on my hip.

"Someone is getting ahead of himself, don�t you think?" I said it playfully and he just laughed and returned his playful hand to my bra strap.

"Sorry about that!"

"That�s OK. You�re a good dancer, Craig!" I offered.

I turned to scan the restaurant and found that Jack and the black girl had left. Now the empty feeling returned. The music stopped and we went back to join Derek and Joy. Derek�s hand rested on the black nylon of her thigh and they were deep in conversation.

"I�m going to the ladies�, Joy, want to come?"

"Yes, coming!" She replied. Derek leaned close and nuzzled her cheek as she slid seductively off the stool between his open legs.

"Do you like him?" She muttered, taking my arm as we walked down the hallway.

"Oh, he�s a nice guy, Joy. But I don�t want to lead him on. I should leave soon.

"Leave? Why? You seem to be getting along pretty well on the dance floor."

"Don�t be silly, I�m a married woman. This is just not my scene. I haven�t been out like this in, what, 20 years, more than that, actually. I laughed and nudged her playfully. "Really, I should go. You should stay, though. No problem, I don�t want to be in your way."

"I can�t keep both of them, Jo!" She opened the door and I went in.

We were in adjoining booths.

"You should have a good night out, you know. You�ll get cabin fever. I think Craig has the hots for you." Her laughter echoed against the pink tiled walls.

"I might have one more dance. He�s cute though, isn�t he."

"Yes, he is."

When I stood up, I noticed the wine was having an effect and braced myself between the walls for a moment.

We walked back toward the bar. I agreed to stay a bit longer, and Joy urged me to let myself go, and have a good time.

"You need it!" she said, smiling devilishly.

"Here�s my dance partner!" Craig said over Derek�s shoulder. "You�re just in time, Joanne, the band just came back."

"Lead on, MacDuff," I said, laughing and slipping under his arm for one last turn around the dance floor.

Craig twirled me out and then back in against his body and I felt his hand trail softly across both breasts, as if by accident. He was a seductive one, I thought.

"I have to be going soon, you know," I said.

"Not so soon. Who will I dance with? Derek is taken!"

We laughed about that and he pulled me closer. I could feel his erect cock against my stomach and, in spite of myself, I intentionally brushed against it as we danced. There is nothing so sexy as the feel of a man�s cock brushing against you through his trousers. It is always so firm and warm and so completely and totally sexual. It�s wonderful, I have to admit. I let it stroke against me a little more as we danced slowly and moved less and less. Finally, we stopped and swayed together, enjoying his cock sliding against the silky slipperiness of my skirt and slip and panties.

"Why must you leave?" he asked, his breath soft in my ear.

"Well, It�s not my scene, you know. I�m married, and haven�t been out like this for too many years to count."

"But you are such a good dancer. I don�t often get to dance with someone who knows how."

He lead a few more steps, turning us in a circle and I felt his cock slip smoothly across my stomach from one flank to the other.

"Not mine, either, by the way."

"Not your what?" I said, puzzled.

"Not my scene. I usually just stay in the hotel and let Derek go out on his own. I just felt like getting out tonight. It�s depressing hanging around a hotel room. I�m married too, by the way."

"Shame on you! What would your wife say to dancing with me .. .. uh, so close, �. I mean, .. like this?" I pressed my mound a little tighter for a moment and grinned up at him.

"Well, .. .. I�m not sure." He smiled down at me.

"I don�t think she would like it, do you?"

"Well, sad to say, she might not care. Given that she may be having it on with a neighbor tonight while I�m out of town."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" I asked, looking up into his eyes.

"Ah, well, I�m not absolutely sure; just some signs .. � .. . Not sure what to do, either." His voice trailed off.

"I�m sorry," I muttered into his chest. "I know what you mean."

"You do? Really?"

"Yes, my husband and I are having a little problem too. Not all his fault, I have to admit. As a matter of fact, he was here earlier, with someone else. I couldn�t decide what to do until it was too late and they left." I leaned my cheek against him and stared bleakly across the room.

"Jesus. You�re kidding!"

"No. It�s always more complicated than people think," I said.

"True," he agreed.

Craig led the way to a table against the wall. Joy and Derek were still in flirting positions, sipping their drinks.

"Now, it looks for all the world like Joy and Derek have things all sorted out and no complications at all. How are they managing that?" he asked.

"Well, it always looks that way from the outside I suppose?" I smiled across the table and he signaled for a drink. "What did you mean about your wife being with a neighbor? None of my business, of course."

He looked down at the table, his expression sad and serious. He began talking about his problems. "Well, I�m overstating it a bit, perhaps. Our sex life has just become dull. Uninteresting. Boring. That sounds awful, doesn�t it?"

"Well, we all think that once in awhile, I imagine," I suggested.

"This has been a long time, I�m afraid. I think neither of us knows what to do about it. I get angry because she doesn�t seem interested. She clearly thinks it�s all I ever think about and that I�m a pervert. Things like that." He looked at me with a wry smile and sipped the drink that had just arrived.

I looked at him questioningly. He continued.

"Like, I tried to add interest by suggesting playing out some fantasies. She went bananas! Thought it was awful. �You don�t love me anymore,� .. .. that sort of thing."

"Maybe you picked the wrong fantasy," I said.

He looked at me quizzically. "I don�t think she thinks people should have fantasies!"

"Everyone has fantasies." I reassured him, "you probably only suggested YOUR fantasies, not hers."

"That�s interesting. Why do you think everyone has them?"

"Ah, well, .. for example, when you find someone who is a kindred spirit on some mutually hot subject, .. .. and you find yourself talking intently? You inevitably have a fantasy � you think it would be neat to be closer, more intimate, have more time together, something like that. Right?"

"Yes. True. Never thought of it as fantasies, though." He smiled and leaned across the table, chin on his hands. "You mean like you and I, .. .. tonight?"

I had to smile. "Yes, .. yes, .. I guess so. Sure! Exactly like this. Don�t you think you are having a fantasy right now?"

"Yes, are you too?" He laughed and then sucked his lips between his lips.

"I admit it, yes. You see what I mean?" I laughed.

"Are they the same fantasy, I wonder?" He leaned closer and smiled eargerly.

"Probably not quite the same," I said gently.

I told him the rest of the story of how Jack had seduced me into tiny fantasies which let to bigger and wilder ones. He listened with complete attentiveness.

After I finished, he started telling me similarly detailed accounts of his frustrations. "Now to me that sounds a delightfully exciting way to get some interest and excitement back." He went on to discuss his wife�s view that he never touched her except when he wanted sex or wanted her to do something perverted! The story went on and on.

"Isn�t it amazing that we can sit and talk so openly like this?" He asked at last. "If we were husband and wife, we would be sitting here just thinking our own thoughts!"

I looked away and then nodded slowly.

"Yes, it�s true, .. .. too often true!. We get so used to each other and have preconceived notions about the other�s responses after so many years, I guess. What do you think we should do about it?"

"It sounds like you and Jack both want to get it back. But, neither is willing to admit it to the other. I think you will be able to do it. You have to find someway to each say you�re sorry. How�s that for oversimplifying it from afar/"

"Maybe not too bad," I laughed quietly.

"Your turn, Joanne, how do I solve my problems? How do I make it exciting again? How do I get to play out my fantasies, for a start? Do I have to go outside marriage and find the fantasy?"

"I don�t know about that. But it sounds like Lori, .. .. .. you said her name was Lori, right?"

He nodded.

I continued, "We all play the character that we have taught ourselves to be. Or, what someone taught us to be as we were growing up. We won�t do anything that doesn�t fit into that self-image. My theory is that you have suggested your own fantasies and they are not things that fit into Lori�s self-image."

He looked Intently at me and silently led me to the dance floor. He curled me gracefully into his arms until I was tightly against his body once again, my cheek against the rough tweed of his jacket, the scent of his aftershave and his body in my nostrils. His thigh pressed between my legs once again.

"Tell me more," he said.

"I�m not you should follow my advice, by the way. Look how much trouble it got me into."

"No, go on, I�m intrigued by what you said. You think I�m selfish, I think you said."

"Not exactly, you�re just not being very creative. Jack noticed when I was having tiny fantasies. He picked up on one of them and shaped it so I could accept it, .. .. .. .. a little at a time. Little by little, I became a very active partner. Unfortunately, I probably went too far," I laughed unconvincingly. "See how easy it is to solve someone else�s problems if you don�t have to live it?"

"Hmmmm. You�re a treat, Joanne. You�re a real treat. I mean it!" His hand slipped under my arm as he twirled me and I felt him fondle the side of my breast. I felt my nipple harden as his fingertips brushed over it.

We pressed close again and I felt his lips touch my ear in a kiss. His cock was firm against my stomach. I slipped my hand under his jacket and fondled his waist and his back, and then slipped my fingers under the band of his pants and pressed him close.

We returned to the bar where Joy and Derek were still nuzzling. Both his hands were on her thighs now. They turned to look at us with dazed smiles on their faces.

"I�m sorry to be a wet, blanket but I should be going, I said. Nice meeting you Derek. See you next week, Joy?"

"Ohhhh,, do you have to leave so soon?" Joy took my hand, imploring me to stay.

"I should be going, too," Craig said. "I don�t have a car. Don�t want to interfere with Derek�s fun, can you drop me off at the Embassy Suites down the road?"

"Uh, .. .. sure. Why not," I said.

There was a light snow falling as we tracked to my car. Derek brushed it off the windows.

"Want me to drive?" he asked.

"No, I think I�m all right." We had both had quite a bit to drink, but I felt OK.

I turned right out of the drive and headed toward his hotel.

"This husband, he�s out with someone else? Right now?"

I sighed. "Yes. He moved out. A few weeks ago. My fault. Like I told you."

"And he�s living with someone else?"

"No, I don�t think so. Moved into his Mother�s house. She is not in town this time of year."

Craig put his hand on my leg. I left it there and he squeezed gently.

"In fact if you want to play detective, we can turn right up here and see if he brought her home. Want to?"

"Suits me. If that�s what you want to do," he said, and I felt his eyes on me.

I turned down the street and then took a left and parked on the side street along the side of the big old house, leaving the engine running. I turned the lights off and stared at the lighted window upstairs. I recognized it as Jack�s teenage room that was still the way he left it when he went away to college. I shivered. I realized this was a bad idea. It was upsetting me to think of them there.

Craig noticed the tremor and put his arm around me comfortingly. I leaned back against him and we watched. For a while nothing happened, and then there were two shadows against the partially closed Venetian blinds. The two combined, obviously kissing.

�So, he did bring her home!" I sighed. "My God!"

"Sorry," he said softly. "Maybe we should go?"

"Yes," I barely heard myself say.

I drove up to the Embassy Suites and stopped at the front door.

"Want to talk a while?" he asked, "These are suites, you know two rooms, one just has couches and chairs and TV?"

I thought about it. Might give the wine time to lose its effect. I sure didn�t need to get stopped for drunk driving. That was rationalization, and I knew it.

"Oh, why not. I�m not in the mood to be alone. If you don�t mind?"

He grinned. "Me? Mind?"

I parked the car and we went up to the fifth floor in the glass elevator looking down over the lobby. The rooms were nicely furnished, and it occurred to me that I had never been taken to a man�s hotel room before. He took my coat and hung it up and then put his arms around me in the middle of the room. He had left music on the radio and I could here it softly in the background. The radio was in the bedroom.

"Shall we continue our dance?" he whispered.

"Yes. Let�s," I sighed as we pressed close. We didn�t move much, just stood and swayed to the music, his cock pressed against me once again. It felt hard and lovely. Both his hands were on my bottom and this time I let him fondle me. His fingers traced along my panty line.

I leaned back in his arms. "Making another map?" I said.

"Don�t want to get lost. Just in case."

"A throwback to Boy Scouts?" I giggled.

His hands tightened on my bottom and a thrill coursed through my body. His hard cock jutted between our bodies.

His hands moved to my breasts, cupping and lifting them gently. I put my hands on his bottom and pulled him close.

"Two can play this game, you know," I said coarsely, "but I thought we were going to talk?" I let my fingers trace the hem of his jockey shorts as he had traced my underwear earlier.

"Sorry. Your beauty took my mind off the subject."

We sat on the couch and I slipped my shoes off and pulled my feet up. I rubbed one foot and complained that he had stepped on it.

"Oh, here, let me rub it for you. I�m good at that." He grasped my foot and I unfolded my leg, aware that he was looking up my skirt.

He massaged slowly and my foot felt so good I let him have the other one. We talked and compared notes on the complications of married life.

"You wonder why homosexuals are demanding to be able to marry, don�t you? Why would they want to complicate their lives? " Craig said at one point.

"Well yes, in some ways. But, on the other hand, I�m having a little trouble with the loneliness right now. I do want to work the problems out."

"Yes, I suppose I do too," he said.

"Perhaps If I hadn�t repressed the inner tramp in me so much, Jack and I wouldn�t have got in this fix. Inside, you know, I think most of us want to be tramps as long as the whole world doesn�t see." I laughed and apologized, "sorry, I�m getting too philosophical. Now where�s that brandy you promised?"

We sipped the brandy and I lay back on the couch with my feet in his lap. He massaged them through my nylons. It was very sensual. His hands slipped up along my ankles and then under my knees. I pressed my feet against his thigh and rubbed.

"I�m sorry. I�ve teased you into a problem .. .. haven�t I?"

"Well, it takes two, doesn�t it?"

My skirt was higher on my thighs since I rubbed his thigh. He could see my panties if he wanted to, I realized. It was a very intimate moment. He was pretending to concentrate on my legs, but I knew he was sneaking a peek or two. I liked it.

We danced again. His cock was urgent and hard against my mound. His hands cupped my breasts and mine were around his neck. I hung from his neck and made tiny thrusting motions against his dick. I heard him moan.

"Take it out, Craig," I whispered.

His hands moved down my body and I heard his zipper and then his hands slipped back up to squeeze my breasts. The lights were out in the room and only the light from the bathroom shown into the main room. We continued our dance.

The jutting cock bumped my mound and I moved my hips to circle it lightly.

"Pull my skirt up out of the way," I whispered hotly into his ear. I could feel him shudder.

He raised my light skirt and pressed the end of his cock in the vee of my legs.

"My slip, too" I murmured, correcting him.

My nipples cried out as his hands left again and lifted my slip.

Now it was against my panties. The music was perfect, soft and smooth in the background. Frank Sinatra began to sing "My Funny Valentine."

His hands were playing with my nipples and the electricity coursed from the peaks of my breasts all along my stomach to meet just where the end of his cock was pressing so insistently.

"If I hadn�t worn panties, we�d be in trouble right now, you know that?" I whispered.

He sighed a huge sigh. "Yessssss! Makes me wish you WERE a tramp!"

"Why�s that?" I jabbed him playfully.

He turned his head and put his tongue in my ear, then blew into it, sending a sharp shiver of pleasure down my body.

"Because, I have the feeling, .. .. that .. .. you .. would .. .. feel � very .. nice!" he whispered hoarsely. His fingers twisted my nipples and his cock pressed between my legs. I could feel the pre-cum fluid as the swollen head of his dick slipped along my panty-covered slit and touched the sensitive skin of my thighs.

"Ohhhhhh, god, .. .. Craig!" I said with a sharp intake of breath.

"Mmmmmmm," was all he could say.

"Now I�m sure you would feel.. .. nice," he said at last, as we continued nudging each other playfully.

His hands pulled my skirt up in the back and massaged my bottom.

"God, but I love the feel of your panties and your lovely ass." He sighed, his hands making light circles on the nylon and making me tingle once again. Around and around his hands moved. He slapped my bottom once, then rubbed away the sting.

"Yes, do that!"

He swatted me harder and again his hands rubbed away the sting. I shivered and scrunched my breasts hard against his chest and he repeated the pleasure sensation.

"Ouch!" he muttered, then laughed. "I hit myself."

We giggled together. His spank had slapped the sensitive end of his cock protruding past the cheeks of my bottom. It was so nice to be sinning like this with someone who had a sense of humor. I couldn�t possibly have done it without that.

"Serves you right, you brute!"

"Right. Want to rub it and make it better?"

"Sure."

He backed away and I felt it drag slowly along my wet, pantied slit.

I reached for it and held the knob of his cock in my hand a moment, gently squeezing, while his tongue explored my mouth and I sucked on his tongue.

"Are we going to commit adultery tonight, Craig?"

"Mmmmm, Yes, I hope so. I want you."

"Just to get even?" I asked, pressing my tongue to his ear.

"No." Craig paused. "Just to pleasure each other. Isn�t it?"

"Good!" I mumbled.

He danced me toward the bedroom and I saw myself in the full-length mirror. It looked sexy and we paused and looked at ourselves. My skirt was hiked up to show the black thigh-high stockings and pale pink panties. His cock and balls were framed by the unzipped trousers as he nuzzled between my legs. We made slow fucking motions together standing in view of the mirror, preening for our own debauched pleasure.

I reached up for a kiss and his tongue slipped easily into my mouth. I pulled away and stepped into the bathroom.

"I just need a minute," I whispered, smiling up into his eyes.

When I came out, he was standing in the bedroom staring out the window. I slipped my arms around him and stood watching the snow fall beautifully on the still town.

"You think I can find a fantasy that Lori will like, do you?�

"Possibly."

"Any suggestions?"

"Well, for example, suppose you had been Derek tonight. And suppose that I had been Lori. Suppose you watched me being so obviously charmed by the good-looking guy across the room."

"That�s me?"

"Yes, and you would have noticed what?"

"I would have seen Lori clinging to that guy. And dancing close with her belly against his."

"And?"

"Uh, what else? Talking?" he said.

I corrected him. "And then sitting for a long time, .. .. talking. And looking into his eyes intently and leaning across the table. Toying with her blouse as if inviting him to look down her cleavage. Clearly enchanted by his conversation. You would have seen all that! Right?"

He smiled broadly. "I get the idea. You�re wonderful, you know that?"

"So what do you do with all that to make a wonderful finish to the night for Lori?"

"Will you play Lori?"

"OK. Sure. I can do that," I giggled with a little wriggle against him.

He danced me back to the bed until my legs pressed against it. He knelt in front of me and pulled me down.

His hands slipped along the outside of my thighs along my stockings and his lips found mine.

"Have a good time, Lori?"

"Yes, nice party. Did you have a good time too?"

"Yeah, good." His lips nuzzled my ear and nibbled the lobe. "That fellow you were talking to, what�s his name?"

"Who?"

"Jack, you know, the good dancer?"

"Oh, yes, he�s charming. Likes to dance. And he is good, too."

"I�m glad you found someone as good as you are. As a dancer, I mean." His hands were caressing my thighs and his fingertips were under my panties. I nibbled his tongue. My nipples were feeling crisp with excitement.

"Yes. I love dancing. He�s smart too, fun to talk to!"

"God, you feel wonderful, Lori. I love touching you like this. Your perfume is delicious." His lips were against my neck and he moved closer between my legs.

"Mmmmm," I found myself purring with his caresses.

"What did you talk about?" he asked, continuing the fantasy.

"Oh, lots of things. He likes art; we�re both New Yorker fanatics. You know, the usual stuff. We talked a lot about movies. He loved �Shakespeare In Love�, just as I did. It is so nice to find someone like that to talk with. I wish we saw him more often."

"Is it erotic talking to him?" Craig continued, thinking hard to find make up his lines.

"Well, a little, I guess. Yes, .. � .. now that you mention it. Probably like you talking to Joy."

His hands were on my breasts, squeezing and playing. My skirt was high in my lap.

"I thought his hands were all over you when you danced."

"Don�t be silly! We were just dancing," I feigned laughter.

"Yeah, but nice and close."

"Yes," I giggled. His fingers did trace my bra strap, though. I asked him what he was doing. Guess what he said?"

"No idea."

"He said he was drawing a mental map, just in case! Now that is funny! Right?"

"Mmmmm Hmmmmm. Yeah, funny. I thought he was making a move."

"No, .. .. .. don�t be silly. Are you getting jealous?"

"Maybe so. Bet he was hard, too, snuggling against these lovely titties. Right?"

"Maybe," I said, breathlessly.

"Didn�t you feel it against you?" he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my back and around to the rest of my body. I pressed him closer and felt his cock slide across my mound.

"Honestly?" I asked.

"Sure."

"I did feel it. I mean, .. .. sort of bumped against it. It was sort of, .. .. .. pressed between us.

I could feel Craig tremble when I said it. He began unbuttoning my dress. Slowly, my bra glistened in the open gap of my dress and his hands cupped my breasts and lifted them. Then he pushed my bra up and my nipples were against his chest. It�s thrilling to have your breasts bared, to feel the cool air, and then be thrust against a man�s chest. I reached between us and found his cock stiff and ready.

I helped him raise my dress off over my head and waited as he pulled my slip down my legs, fondling my nylons as he went. He stood up to take his pants off and his cock jutted close to my lips. I tasted the end of it and cupped his big balls. He reached behind me and struggled with my bra snap. I felt it spring open and let it slip down my arms.

He pushed close and I took it into my mouth. He gently brought me to my feet.

"Did your panties get wet dancing with him, Lori?"

"Feel them," I said breathlessly.

His hand cupped my mound and his long fingers curled under me and fondled my pussy through the damp panties.

"I think he made you excited with his dick pressed against you, Lori, darling. He wanted to bring you here, to this bed, didn�t he? And you, .. .. .. you wanted .. him, too?"

�Yes, Jack. Ready!" I whispered. "Put it in, Jack. Hurry!"

Craig picked me up and laid me on the bed.

"Did you think about having him in your bed, Lori? Did you want to have bed talk with Jack?�

"Mmmm, that might have been nice."

"And did you want Jack�s cock, darling?"

"Yes!" I hissed. "I want Jack�s cock! Did you bring a condom, Jack. I want your big cock, now. "

He stopped. Then recovered, his voice choked.

"Yes, I have a rubber, Lori." He reached to the nightstand and handed it to me.

"Here, Lori, put it on Jack�s big cock."

My hands trembled slightly in spite of myself, and I slipped the ring over the head of his cock and began unrolling it over his length.

"Ohmigod, Its got ribs! It feels, .. .. .. different."

"You want a different cock, Lori?"

"Yes, yes, I want it, Jack. Give it to me. Give it all to me!"

He was between my legs again, holding my legs wide apart.

"Put Jack�s cock in, Lori."

"I grasped the shaft and pointed him toward the entry to my vagina. I rubbed the head along my wet slit and felt it tease my clitoris and then pushed him downward.

He thrust forward and slipped smoothly inside.

I looked up into his eyes, my own eyes wide with the shock of him filling me.

�OH!" was all I said.

"Ohhhh, lovely. At last!" he said quietly.

He leaned forward and kissed my nipples and then we began a slow, thrilling fucking motion. His cock felt good, filling me nicely.

"Fuck me Jack, fuck me hard, darling!"

"Oh, God, Lori, you feel wonderful. You are so tight and hot," He murmured. "I love fucking you, baby."

"That�s it, fuck me, Jack. Give me all of that big thing."

I reached between us to squeeze his balls and then felt him tense up. I could feel the heat of his cum fill the condom around his cock. He thrust harder and harder, trembling with each release. My own slow, rumbling orgasm started around the hot cock, and I thrust up to meet him until I fell back, limp.

"You were great, Joanne. Wonderful."

"I hope it works, Craig." I kissed his cheek as he rolled off me, his hand fondling my breast.

It was a long quiet drive through the crisp cold snow. I reflected on the evening and realized that this life was not for me.

"I have to find a way to sort things out with Jack. We belong together."

But how?

There was a large brown envelope leaning against the garage door. That was normal for packages too large for the mailbox. Jack pressed the button of the door opener and watched the package fall into the garage as the door disappeared overhead.

Picking up the rubber-banded mail along with the brown envelope, Jack looked quizzically at the package. He had not ordered anything recently, so what was this? There was no return address, but he recognized the precise block-letter printing of his wife, Joanne.

"God, what�s this? Divorce papers, perhaps?" he muttered aloud as he walked through the garage. A sinking feeling came over him. On the surface it would seem not to be a surprise, given that he had left home five months ago and had not returned. Still, the thought of the possibility chilled him. He could not understand why it felt that way, but it was his involuntary gut reaction.

He had a nagging feeling that his gut was telling him something he wasn�t willing to admit- that deep inside, he wanted to get back together. What he wanted was to do the impossible, roll back the clock to just before she had gone on her weekend trip with Danny. A new pain in his stomach pushed out the original one when he thought of that betrayal.

He stared at the envelope with the dread he usually reserved for letters from the IRS. He always expected those to trumpet an audit of his tax returns. The corrugated envelope was stapled and sealed with tape. Joanne�s safe and sound nature always required at least two and sometimes three sealing methods. Jack smiled in reflection of her cautious, safe and sure nature.

"So, what the hell is this?" he said to the empty house and opened a drawer for a sharp knife.

It was heavy and dropped onto the table with a clunk.

"What the hell?" It was a photo album. Jack opened the cover and found that he had it upside down and backward. There was only one page in the book. Frowning, he shook out the envelope and found nothing more, no note, no more pages.

He turned the album upright and opened the front cover to find a single card in the middle pocket of the first page. The card was the size of a photo and had a single line of type: "It�s Empty Without You!" and was signed with her unmistakable back-slant signature - Joanne.

The frown was still on his face as he turned it over and over, looking for some other secret. He pulled the card out of the pocket, but it was not a folded card, just one side, one message � nothing else. Jack shook his head and reached for the square cut-crystal decanter half-full of a single-malt scotch. He stared across the lip of the glass into a mirror and wondered why she would go to all that bother to deliver the coded message.

"Trying to make up I guess," he shrugged, a feeling of lonely sadness draping itself over him as the final light died into night.

The next night, he found the mailbox empty as he pulled close and rolled down the window. He pulled the newspaper from its box below the mailbox and then headed down the driveway. The headlights swept across the door and he noticed the mail once again leaning against the door.

Jack sat at the table and cut open the envelope. A single photo album page slid onto the table. He laughed as he glanced at the single photo, a wedding photo of him drawing the garter down the pretty leg of Joanne seated on one of those plush, straight back chairs of the wedding reception hall. He had often teased her that the photo showed how eager she had been because her grip on the gown pulled it high on her thigh and gave the audience a free show.

He remembered seeing the thrilling white triangle of her panties from his kneeling position at her feet. He recalled how choked up he had been on that scary day of commitment and adventure.

Her legs gleamed in silken glory, the nylons a color that gave her legs a golden glow of invitation. Light perspiration from the heat of the day, gave them an even greater sexual stimulation value. He remembered the feel of those nylons under his hand as they drove away from the reception and spent two hours of tormented eagerness driving to Chicago for their first night together.

Jack thought back to that terrifying day. She was one of those rarities, a virgin on her wedding night. It was old-fashioned by today�s standards. She had managed to hang on to it in against his best efforts over two years of passionate nights in his car.

"God knows I tried everything!" he mused.

The windows would steam up with their body heat as he slipped his hand into her bra and squeezed those lovely breasts and teased her nipples into brisk hardness. Her tongue would fondle his as he rolled her nipple between his fingers. She would wriggle and moan under his groping, grasping, fondling hand. She had sensitive breasts and loved having him play with them.

When his hand slipped under her skirt, along her nylons, across the smooth thigh and then the soft protective curls of her pussy, she was always, always, very, very wet. He would slowly feel the pool of moisture under the silky panties and eventually, slip his finger past the guarding elastic leg band and roll the creamy fluids under his finger. She would sigh and moan softly as he pushed his finger inside and began finger-fucking her tight pussy. Joanne would thrust her breasts upward for his lips to nibble, and writhe in pleasure at his touch.

She would lay across his lap, her arm pressing against his cock as he agonized in need.

The furthest that he had ever got her to go was to straddle his legs and press her pussy against the bulge of his cock. Mostly he went away dissatisfied but thrilled by the foreplay, his balls aching for relief. Jack�s throat was dry thinking about it.

And so, their wedding night had been an extremely exciting event.

Jack turned the page over and found one more familiar photo. It was taken three years later when he had at long last talked her into letting him take pictures of her without her clothes. She was sitting on the bed in the same white lace negligee she had worn on their honeymoon. The gown she had walked out of the hotel bathroom in. The gown she allowed him to open like a final wedding present and discover her beautiful white lace panties, bra, garter belt and white stockings.

She looked better than the wedding cake itself.

It was her presentation of her body to be deflowered.

Jack�s mouth went dry as the memories that flooded back.

He had untied the satin bows down the front and buried his face between her breasts as she pressed into his arms.

Then the embarrassment. His excitement had been so great that he had to run to the bathroom and throw up.

"So much for the magical, virginal first night of wedded bliss!" he murmured.

But things got much better as he returned to their first bed and slowly undressed her and fondled her in all the ways that had become familiar in their necking sessions and then moved to the ones that were unfamiliar.

She was wet, and her wetness felt familiar in its warm, creamy, abundant pool under the moist panel of her panties. He had pressed his lips to the soft folds between her legs and inhaled the sweet virginal scent of her pussy. It was overwhelming. She raised her hips as he slipped her panties down and gazed at the sweet, fresh-looking slit. Her lips pursed out at him and he slipped his tongue along the soft fold of her swollen outer lips. He could not wait any longer and neither of them needed any prolonged warm up. The maddeningly exciting fondling on the long drive had them on a knife-edge of passion.

He remembered the taste of her virgin pussy and how it had excited the rampant lion in him. He lunged forward on his knees as Joanne opened her legs wider and reached out for him, smiling with lush, lipsticked lips. Eagerly, too eagerly, he had guided his cock for the first time to the wet vestibule of her vagina. He moved it up her tender slit to touch her clitoris, bringing a sharp intake of breath from Joanne.

"Yes, .. hurry, darling!" she whispered.

The head of his cock slipped inside the tight channel. The heat of her body felt like an inferno around the head of his cock and he looked up from the penetration into her dark brown eyes. She had never looked more beautiful. Her eyes were wide with the startling pleasure she felt between her legs. She smiled gently and pulled him to her.

"Are you OK?" he whispered>

"Yes .. yes .. .. yes, just go slowly, .. .. it�s OK, yes, darling," She replied.

He had pushed again and felt the tightness of her vagina and then the barrier inside. His kisses were on her neck as he lay poised over her. He asked with his eyes if she was ready. She half closed her eyes and nodded. He could feel her ready herself to accept his thrust.

He had never felt anything so tight. He pressed against the barrier and it seemed impossible to enter. The head of his cock lodged in a tiny hole that would only let the tip enter and then held him there. Her eyes were wide now, and she held her breath.

"Go ahead," she gasped.

He pressed harder and felt a searing heat as his cock tore through her hymen. It was excruciatingly hot. And wonderfully tight.

"Oh, god!" she said tensely.

"Are you OK?" he asked, urgent concern in his voice.

"Yes, .. .. better now .. .. stay there � just a moment �� "

He lay there his cock deep inside the furnace of her cunt. It was a delicious moment.

"Now, .. go ahead, .. .. a little more �.."

They began moving together. He was so excited that he didn�t last long and she must have been disappointed, not satisfied; but they had lain happily snuggling together as his cock slipped wet from her ravished virginal pussy.

They couldn�t stop smiling.

Jack realized that the reminiscence and the sight of Joanne�s breast photographed for the first time in the open negligee had given him a semi-hard erection.

He examined the photo and reflected how many years of wheedling it had taken to get her to let him photograph her even in this modest photo. The photographer in him looked closely at the crisp image of the nipple, the man in him followed the beautiful sexy opulence of the curve of her breast.

On Thursday night, another mystery envelope stood against the door. He tore at the envelope as he walked through the garage. He couldn�t get through the tough material and found the knife from last night still lying on the table. He slashed it open and dumped out a single page for the photo album. This time the pockets were mostly full and he turned on the light over the table to examine it.

"Jeeze, I thought she burned them!"

The sheet held six photos of Joanne. The lighting came from a single candle in a tall holder. It gave the whole photo a golden cast and left the background in total darkness. She was standing in front of a dresser with a tall mirror reflecting a matching image. This was the first time she let him photograph her nude. Even these were pretty modest because of the low light level of the candlelit scene.

But the photos were sensuous in the graceful full slope of her breasts glowing in the candles warm light. They were moody in manner, as she stared off to the side, away from the camera. Her nipples looked hard and jutted from the round, lovely breasts.

"Great pictures," he muttered, proud of his own photography.

Joanne had become angry with him a few years ago and told him she had destroyed all those "trashy" photos. Obviously she had saved them or the negatives. He was glad to have them and stared at the candlelit beauty of her breasts.

"God, but they are gorgeous!" His mouth watered slightly with the memory of suckling those nipples that night so long ago.

"Ohhhhhh, you are sooooo good with my breasts!" she would moan when he sucked the nipples into his mouth and nibbled gently, while his hands fondled the heavy globes.

Jack opened the album and inserted the new page into the book.

"Wonder where this is headed?" he mused. Over the years he had slowly weaned her around to letting him take more and more explicitly sexy photographs. She always worried someone would find them.

He was pleased that she had not destroyed them. They were a pleasure to reminisce over. He was looking forward to more pages for the album.

He hadn�t smoked in ten years, but he opened the pack of cigarettes bought on the way home. He inhaled deeply the scent of fresh tobacco.

""The smell of the tobacco is the best part of smoking," he recalled.

He lit a cigarette, inhaled, then stared at the burning tip and the pretty blue smoke trailing up toward the ceiling. He lay back in the chair, put his feet on the marble table, and thought about his life.

The blues settled over him as the radio station played an old Sinatra recording:

"

"Good grief! I�m going nuts! I�ve got cabin fever!" he snarled and headed for the car.

He had dinner in an old-fashioned diner serving good hamburgers and French fries made from fresh potatoes. Probably not good for his cholesterol battle, but satisfying. Waving to the waitress, he pushed through the stainless steel framed doors and into the light from the neon tubes in the window. He lit another cigarette and stood in the crisp, cold night air, staring off at the string of streetlights. "Uptown or home?"

He turned uptown instead of going home and drove to the club where Jolene danced. The manager waved him inside and he straddled the red plastic of the barstool and looked around for her through the dim lighting. Onstage, a tall blonde with big tits was twirling around the fire-pole, her long hair hung straight down, almost to the floor. Jack was disappointed not to see Jolene.

Another cigarette. The bartender was wearing only a lacy bra, panties and high heels. She brought him a scotch, and then switched her hips back to the other end of the bar. He stared at the crease of her ass, vaguely visible through the panties.

"Hello stranger!"

He started at the loud whisper behind his ear and turned to find Jolene smiling at him. Her dark lipstick was moist and inviting. His eyes quickly took in her cleavage, made even rounder and more inviting by the push-up bra of her costume.

"Yeah, I haven�t been around much, have I? Did you miss me?"

"Sure I did!" she grinned and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. ""How is my favorite married man?"

"Hmmfph!" he said with a small smile.

"Still the same � still haven�t taken that po� girl back?" What are you waiting for? You know you want to!"

"Don�t be a smartass. You know too much. You know that?" he said.

"Mmmmmn hmmmmm!" she retorted.

"Come on, sell me a dance."

"You don�t have to do that. Just buy me a drink."

"Now how the hell are you going to earn tuition with such a lousy sales pitch?"

She rolled her eyes, picked up her drink and tugged on his hand.

Jolene sat on his lap like an old friend instead of stepping up on the table and beginning to gyrate for his eyes and his pleasure.

"I�ll wait till the next song starts and save you ten bucks, OK?"

Jack put his arms around her and pressed one hand against her breast.

"Just don�t let the boss see!" she said, looking around to see where he was. She relaxed against him as he softly squeezed her breast. "What�s been happening with you?"

He was enjoying the soft breast against the palm of his hands and the warm round bottom balanced on his lap.

"You are one gorgeous woman, you know that?�

"You keep telling me. Keep it up, I�ll start to believe!"

The music changed and Jolene stood up and climbed on the table, holding his hand for support. She was wearing bright red heels and black stockings held up by lacy garters hanging from a skimpy red bustier trimmed in black lace. Her panties were red satin and he stared with pleasure at the way it snuggly cupped her mound. He smiled up at her as she began her dance. The garish lights from the stage shown between her legs and Jack stared with lust at the way the folds of her pussy stood highlighted by the tight panties pressed snuggly between the large outer lips.

She stepped from the table and straddled him; putting her feet alongside the cushion of the seat and looked down at him over proud, firm breasts. Jack could smell the scent of her perfume nicely mingled with the natural scent of her body.

"Scoot down a little," she said. Jack slid down in the seat and Jolene lowered that soft young pussy right on his semi-hard cock.

"� guess you did miss me! Or at least you�re glad to see me, huh?" she said.

"You feel wonderfully soft!" he said.

""And you feel wonderfully hard, baby!" she replied with a laugh.

The song ended and he handed her a twenty.

"Thank you, sir!" she said and remained seated astride his lap. "Again?"

"Sure. But you can skip the dancing."

She squirmed her pussy against his hardness. She scanned around the club and then fondled the end of his cock with her long fingers where it extended between her legs. Jolene smiled and looked deep in his eys, gently rocking on the hard ridge of his dick.

"Are we still going skiing?" he asked.

"I�m waxing my skis this weekend," She said, her hips continuing the slow seductive rotation against him. "I�m looking forward!" she exclaimed.

��I�m going a couple days early to do some chores on the cabin. There�s a van to bring you up from the airport. I�ve stapled the name in the ticket folder. I�ve got your ticket in the car. I�ll get it before I leave."

"It is so nice of you to let me use your airline miles. Thanks."

She squirmed a little more against his dick, tickling the head with her nails.

"I feel terrible taking your money." she said, as he slipped another twenty into her panties.

"Don�t worry about it. I like you!"

"I might be making a wet spot on your pants, you know. You excite me, too." She pressed her lovely breasts against his face and Jack nuzzled them with pleasure.

"I might do that myself if you don�t go easy."

"You want to?" she said in his ear. He felt her tense against his cock.

She moved quickly back and forth on the rigid length of him.

"Oh, shit! It�s OK. That did it!" He laughed at himself and leaned into the soft cushion of her breasts. "God. That felt good, though."

Driving home with the sticky, cold cum in the hair of his stomach, he felt sheepishly adolescent. But on the other hand, the tension had gone right out of his body and mind.

There was another week before he would fly out to Denver for the ski trip. He was looking forward to it. He also looked forward to the next envelope from Joanne. He didn�t want to look forward to it, but he couldn�t avoid it.

The new pages came, day by day, and the album began to fill out. The photos got more and more explicit, including some of the two of them fucking. He remembered convincing her to let him put the remote trigger on the camera and take the photos. There were pictures of him kissing between her legs, of her with her legs widespread and her husband buried between them; even one of her giving him a blowjob. It was taken looking down across his hairy belly with her eyes were looking up at him while her lips curled around the head of his dick.

On Thursday, the doorbell rang as he finished packing his bag for the trip. Jack went down the stairs to find a flower delivery guy at the door. He was carrying a box of flowers and another of those big brown envelopes.

"Thanks!" he said, and fished out a tip.

"Good grief, what the hell is this?"

The card was from Joanne. A Valentine�s Day cupid was on the corner of the card. He shook his head and turned to the package.

The photos were a shock. No old photos! These were all new and there were several them. They also were professionally shot, he could see that immediately.

In the first one, a large 8 � X 11 inch photo showed a smiling Joanne in the same white lace negligee as she wore on their wedding night. She was posed on a photographer�s podium, looking primly seductive. The following pages were a series of progressively more revealing shots. They were well posed and well photographed to show her most beautiful features, The first leaning forward with the gown open and her breasts pushed up by the lacy bra. In the next she was removing the bra and holding it under her breasts.

In the final photo, she sat with one foot on the seat of the chair and the other foot on the floor; the gown down on her arms to bare her breasts and the triangle of hair between her legs was discreetly visible. He could just make out the beginning of her slit beneath the soft, curly thatch.

Jack thumbed through the entire album. It was cleverly done, he grudgingly admitted; he unzipped his bag and slipped it inside. Glancing at the clock, he hurried out the door and threw everything in the car. He was soon headed down the expressway to the airport. His skis poked through the passenger compartment and out the back window.

Six hours later he backed the rental car up to the porch of the cabin and stepped out into the invigorating mountain air and the bright sunlight of late afternoon. He unloaded the groceries and began looking around to plan the chores he needed to do.

At last he took the pleasure of sitting with a large scotch and water in the big chair in front of the fireplace. The fire crackled and snapped satisfyingly behind the screen and chased the chill of the empty cabin. He fell asleep in the chair like a large shaggy dog and woke when the fire died out and the chill returned. The album slipped from his lap and clunked onto the floor.

He climbed into the bed and surveyed the friendly log walls of the room and went contentedly to sleep, pulling a huge goose down comforter up to his chin.

By Saturday afternoon he had finished the tasks he had set in fixing up the cabin. There was time for one schuss down the mountain, he thought.

He was on top of the mountain by 2PM and slipped off the chairlift and then side slipped to a stop. He stood looking out over the mountains while he adjusted goggles and zipped up against the cold wind blowing a light snow in his face.

After a few stretching exercises to warm up his muscles, he started down the mountain, following a long easy trail that lead across the mountain in several long graceful switchbacks. It was a comfortable way to get his skis under himself before tackling the more challenging blue and black runs.

The snow was perfect and the hushed whisper of his skis a pleasure to his ears. He drew up in one of the turns and paused to look out over the valley. No vacation pleased him more that these mountains, jutting steeply all around him. He felt ten years younger and knew that by the end of a full day of skiing, he would likely feel ten years older than his 42 years.

He pushed off. The trail was busy with happy skiers. The faster ones calling out ��right" or "left" as they passed slower skiers. With their goggles on, strangers often look familiar on the slopes. He noticed a woman passing him that looked strangely familiar in her tight red pants and tasseled cap. He shrugged it off and followed as she moved quickly out of sight and left him lazily and easily traversing the mountain.

The trail brings you shooting out a long slow incline to stop in front of a large deck where you can have a drink and be warmed by the sun. He parked his skis and clumped up on the deck to order a dark German beer. He took a long refreshing drink of the heavy beer and ordered a second one before he finished the first. His muscles felt nicely stretched and a friendly ache fell pleasantly over his body from the unaccustomed exercise.

Far across the deck he saw the red tasseled hat that passed him on the trail, now with goggles up on her forehead.

"Christ!" he thought, and ducked deep in his seat. "I don�t believe it. That can�t be Joanne." He glanced again. She was facing away from him now. Eventually, he convinced himself that he was wrong. It was unlikely that she would go skiing. The next time he looked he couldn�t find the bright hat and he relaxed.

"That�s all I need, for her to find me up here with Jolene," he thought.

Later, he decided to have dinner at the lodge and left a note on the door for Jolene. There was a brief wait and then he was seated near the entry of the restaurant.

"I�ll have a Canadian Club Manhattan, please." The waitress left him to ponder the menu.

"Hello, Jack."

He knew the familiar voice, of course. He looked up to see Joanne�s sunburned face looking healthy and fresh.

"Hi. Uhh, .. hi, how are you? I thought I saw you earlier. .. .. surprised to see you."

"It�s good to see you. Did you get my valentine?"

"Oh, yes, sure. Sorry. I .. I liked it. The flowers were nice too," He laughed and she smiled.

"Well you used to give me flowers. Turn-about, I guess," she said.

They said in chorus, the same question. "Waiting for someone?"

"Look, Jack. I�m sorry about this. Jolene isn�t coming. She called me. "

"What? How .. .. did .. ..how .. ..?"

"Can I sit down?"

"Yes, sure." He ordered her a drink. "Manhattan?" she nodded.

"Well, I guess it IS a surprise then," he muttered, staring into his drink and wondering what to do with this conversation.

"She�s nice. I like her. I didn�t want to like her. I didn�t want to talk to a girl half my age who is making it with my husband! But she was trying to help. She�s quite a friend of yours." Joanne had almost slipped into an angry diatribe. She calmed herself down.

"Well, .. yes, I guess. She�s a nice girl. She told you? . .. .. that we were .. .." he wasn�t sure how much Jolene would have told.

"No, I already knew that. I saw you together at a restaurant. You left before I got my nerve up to cause a scene! Aren�t you glad you left early?" she smiled tightly and looked at him meaningfully.

"Yeah!" he said, unable to stifle an uncomfortable laugh.

"Are you in love with her?"

"Of course not," He said matter-of-factly.

She nodded and looked silently out over the restaurant.

"There was none of your stuff in the cabin, .. .. .." he began again.

"Didn�t want to press my luck," She said, tilting her head and smiling a tight-lipped smile that fell just short of contrition.

They sipped their drinks, both wondering what to say next.

"Look, Jack, I am very sorry that I hurt you. I really am." A tear forced itself from the corner of her eye, and she brushed it back. "The problem is, that I�m not sure I can say I�m completely sorry for everything I did. It was all a long progression, wasn�t it. And we enjoyed it right up until I broke the rules. I�m sorry. I was hoping that, up here in the mountains, we might start the way back, just relaxing together and maybe not raking over the whole .. .. .. well, you know, .. .. we start shouting, .. .. " she paused.

Jack lit a cigarette.

"You�re smoking again?" she said, stifling a criticism.

"Yeah, .. didn�t know what to do with my hands, you know .. .," he laughed

"I pace the house a lot. Maybe it�s the same?" she said. "Anyway, you don�t have to decide this minute. I have a room here at the lodge. I�ll go away and leave you alone if you wish. Just let me know." She moved to stand up.

"Uh, no. Don�t go. Stay and have dinner. Shall we?"

Studiously avoiding the rocks that would cause a shouting match, they had a second Manhattan, a good steak and a good Australian wine. Slowly, the conversation became more relaxed and even turned to some reminiscing about happier times.

"I�m curious about the last set of photos."

"I�ll bet!" she laughed. "I found one of those photographers who advertise �intimate photos for Valentine�s Day. I tried to think of something you might like."

"Nice. I brought it with me, by the way."

"Hmmmm, you�re not good at this dating thing, then, are you?" she smiled. "Bringing an album like that along on a major date?"

"You may be right about that," He smiled.

"I�m falling asleep from all the fresh air, Jack. Want to get together tomorrow."

"Yes. That�ll be good. 10 O�clock?"

"OK. Fine. Thanks for dinner."

At the front door, she kissed him on the cheek quickly and then headed off toward the elevator.

He watched as she walked away, then turned and went out into the cold. He lit a cigarette and slowly walked to the car. The snow crunching under the wheels made a sad little background to the short drive to the cabin. He was about to turn the key in the lock.

"Oh, fuck it, I give up!" he said quietly, and then got back in the car. He parked by the door and made his way to the elevator, hoping he recalled correctly the room number.

After pausing for a moment, he knocked.

"Just a minute."

A minute or two passed and the door swung open.

"You knew I would come back?" he said, sounding angry.

"No. In fact, I didn�t think you would. But just in case, I wanted to .. .. I wanted it to be nice." She stood in the same negligee from their wedding night. She parted it and stood before him in white panties, bra, garter belt and stockings, with strappy high heels.

""I thought we should both stay in the cabin," he began.

"How about staying here tonight? I have champagne."

He stepped inside and she pressed close. Her tongue slipped between his lips. He slipped his hands under the gown and fondled her bottom through the white satin panties.

"I have a surprise for you. I�m not sure .. ..well, not sure you�ll like it," she whispered.

He opened the Champagne and poured two glasses and raised his glass to hers with a clink.

"Try me."

She gulped visibly. He wasn�t sure what to expect. She took a long sip of the wine and looked into his eyes.

"Do you remember a year or two ago that you typed two words into Google and we laughed at the results you got?"

He thought about it and nothing registered. "Remind me."

"Restore Virginity?" she said.

"Oh yes, that was a shocker,"he laughed. "Unbelievable."

They had been astonished to find there were many websites listed; cosmetic surgeons who promised an operation to make you a virgin once again. It was connected to the need for certain religious faiths to marry only virgins.

"You�re kidding!" he said, astonished. "You didn�t!"

"She nodded slightly. The ultimate fantasy. That�s what I thought, anyway. Is it OK with you?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Good grief, I can�t believe it. Why on earth .. .. .. ..?" Jack took a long drink of the champagne and refilled their glasses.

They stood looking at each other and he refilled the glasses again. He finally put the bottle on the nightstand and turned the light off, leaving the room lighted by a single candle on the dresser in front of a large mirror.

They stood swaying in each other�s arms and slowly moved to the king-sized bed. Joanne�s legs bumped it and she sat down and began unbuckling his belt and then unzipped his pants and slipped them down his hairy legs. Her hands went to his shirt, tore at the buttons and removed it.

"Do you remember?" she said, looking up.

"Can I skip the throwing up part?"

"Yes, please do. I think you were excited!"

"Still am, Joanne, .. .. I still am."

He knelt between her legs and put his hands on her knees as she spread them for him. She put her hands on his head and pulled him closer. His lips brushed the soft cushion of her mound under the satin panties and he kissed a lingering, sensuous kiss between her legs. He felt the creamy pouch of moisture behind the panties and tugged it aside with a finger. The finger led the way to her pussy and his tongue moved up her slit, opening her to him. He sucked her clitoris gently and listened for the moan he knew would come.

"Hurry darling, .. .. please. .."

Jack inhaled deeply the scent of her sex and pressed his tongue into her one more time, tasting her familiar juices. He knelt on the bed between her legs and moved over her. Her hand guided him, fingering the shaft tenderly.

"Are you sure .. ..? Won�t this hurt?"

She nodded and pulled him closer.

"Yes, .. .. but it will be fine." She said.

He pressed, feeling the lovely soft folds of her pussy against his cock head and then the heat of her vagina surrounding him. Once again he felt the resistance of an opening too small for him. Once again he looked into her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her lips. Her hands reached down his back and urged him to thrust through the barrier.

"Now!" she said.

He thrust and felt it yield and tighten around his cock, and then he was through. It was tight around him, but he was past it. Her eyes looked shocked for a moment of pain, and then she closed them tightly, wincing with pain. She moved slightly pushing on to his cock a little more, then relaxed and smiled up at him.

"Mmmmm, .. .. .. it�s .. OK, she gasped. But it feels good. Fuck me, darling."

"The last time we did this, we started quite an adventure!" he whispered in her ear as he began slipping in and out of her."

"Maybe this one can be just as good?" she whispered. "Oh, Jack, you feel so good! Ohhh, .. yes, like that. MMmmmmmmn."