a Dolce & Gabbana gown any other man would have wanted to rip off. I’m not sure I can take much more of this. I need to have sex.”
“I understand your frus—”
“No, you don’t,” I say, cutting Claudia off. “I’m so desperate, I’m considering having an affair.”
Claudia and Lishelle exchange a glance before looking at me again.
“I met someone,” I continue. “He came into my studio. And the way he looked at me…I don’t remember ever feeling so sexually charged just from a look. This guy made me remember that I’m a woman. He made me remember all the times I’ve been hit on in my life. Even by some of my clients’ fiancés—you remember the stories. I used to look in the mirror and see a confident and beautiful woman, but somehow, Charles has taken that from me. I want that back.”
“Wow.” Lishelle pushes her plate of pastries to the side. Claudia suddenly stops chewing her bacon.
“After I met this guy, I went home and used a vibrator for the first time, thinking of him through it all, and I had the best orgasm.”
“Aren’t vibrators fucking great?” Lishelle asks. “I’ve been telling you for years to buy one.”
“I thought that would be enough,” I say sadly, “but it wasn’t.”
“So now you want to have sex with him?” Claudia asks, sounding a little shocked.
A beat passes before I answer. “I’m not sure. I thought I wanted that, but then I ripped up his card, so I have no way to contact him. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Lishelle asks.
“He came in with his younger brother and the brother’s fiancée. They said they want to hire me, but they haven’t been back, so who knows?”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Claudia comments.
“You think I shouldn’t have an affair?”
Claudia holds her forkful of eggs before her mouth. “If you want my honest opinion, no. But I’m about to get married.”
“Yeah,” Lishelle says. “You’re still in that blissful stage. When everything about marriage seems wonderful and perfect.”
“And what about you, Miss Suddenly Engaged to your first love.”
“I’m just saying—I was married, and it wasn’t always wonderful, and the sad reality is that yes, some people have affairs.” Now Lishelle faces me. “I am in no way saying you should have an affair. But then, that’s not my decision to make. If things are rough with Charles and you’ve tried all you can and you need to get some sex on the side…” She shrugs. “I’ll support you, whatever you decide.”
“Wonders never cease,” Claudia mutters.
“Annelise is a grown woman, and we’re not her parents. We’re her friends.”
As Lishelle and Claudia banter back and forth about what’s morally right, my mind drifts to Dominic. I can’t stop thinking about him. Even last night, when I was so pissed with Charles about Arizona, I began comforting myself with thoughts of Dominic. I’ll bet he wouldn’t balk at the idea of going to a sex spa. I’ll bet he couldn’t pack his bags fast enough.
That’s exactly what I imagined last night as Charles lay with his back to me, snoring. I thought of me and Dominic walking into a magnificent room at a resort tucked away in an Arizona desert, with a fire already going in the living room’s fireplace. Of course, there was a bottle of champagne chilling, and excited, Dom took my hand and hurried into the room with me. We both laughed like teenagers. Then he scooped me in his arms and twirled me around, and I clung to him, knowing that within minutes we’d be naked and having the best sex of our lives.
In my dream, once the twirling stopped, Dominic laid a heavy kiss on me, his tongue twisting with mine. I grabbed at his shirt, ripping it in my haste to get it off. Then I went for his jeans, unzipping them and shimmying them down his hips with his briefs. I moaned in delight at the sight of his penis—large and solid and angling to my right.
I took it in my hands, stroked him as I kissed the tip. Stroked him as I added my tongue, tasting the flavor of salt. Then I ran my tongue in circles around the top of his cock.
“Christ, Annie…”
Pressing my fingers into his ass, I took him into my mouth as far as I could. In and out I moved around him the way my pussy would.
Dominic tangled his fingers in my hair. “I can’t take this. I don’t want to come yet.”
He tugged me to my feet and pulled my simple black dress over my head. When he saw I was wearing nothing underneath, not even panties, his eyes roamed over me with heated appreciation. Then he kicked off his jeans and dropped to his knees, giving me not even a moment to catch my breath as he sucked my clit into his mouth and devoured it with his hot tongue.
With Charles beside me, it was too risky to get the vibrator, but I pushed two fingers as far as I could inside my body with one hand, while with the other I massaged my nub until I was panting.
“Oh, Dom…”
I stole a quick glance at Charles, wondering if my moans had wakened him. They hadn’t.
I slipped another finger into my pussy, imagining Dominic pushing his tongue inside me as far as he could go. I imagined gripping his head, staring into his eyes as he twirled his hot tongue over my clit.
And, fuck, I started to come. I had to bite down on my bottom lip to quiet my moans, certain I’d wake Charles.
But Charles never stirred.
“Annelise!” I feel an urgent slap on my hand.
“Huh?” I say, confused for a moment as to where I am. And then I remember. I’m with my friends. In a restaurant. And I’ve just wet my panties remembering my hot fantasy of last night with Greek God, Dominic.
“You look totally flushed,” Claudia says. “Are you all right?”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat. Holy shit, I can’t believe I just zoned out like that. Here! And now I have to scramble to remember what we were talking about.
“You do look a little…something,” Lishelle tells me.
I take a huge gulp of my drink. And then I remember. We were discussing the pros and cons of me cheating with Dominic. Of course, I already have—in my mind.
“I’m probably all talk, anyway,” I assure Claudia. I drag a hand over my face in an attempt to regain my composure. I really am flushed. “There’s a big part of me that believes I’ll burn in hell for even thinking I might want to have an affair.”
“Maybe you should try something else, but still drastic,” Claudia counters.
I look at Claudia. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like…like going to a swingers’ club or something. That ought to get Charles’s attention.”
