A Wanton Woman

by Thomas Henry

  Karen lifted her head and looked into my eyes. She gave me a gentle kiss on the lips and then pressed her forehead against my chest again. “I get it. I really do. But it’s just so…”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I guess I figured you were busy with Ted and wouldn’t even know.” When she said nothing, I finally just came out and asked, “So how did you find out?”

  Karen hugged me with her cheek pressed against my chest. “Oh, a girl hears things.” She forced a chuckle. “Actually, Thuy told me. I mean, she just sort of mentioned it in passing when we were talking on the phone.”

  I wondered what else Thuy had told her…and why. “I didn’t know you and Thuy kept in touch,” I said.

  “Well, we don’t really. But she called me up a couple of days ago to see if I would be willing to do another bachelor party with her. She wanted to do that poker game thing again because we made so much money when we did it before. And she said Crystal wouldn’t do it with her because she had stopped dancing. Thuy said she hadn’t even seen her since you took them to dinner.”

  My heart was in my throat. Had Crystal told Thuy about our arrangement? And had Thuy told Karen?

  “That was it? She just wanted to ask you to do another bachelor party?”

  “Sure. What else?”

  “Well, she obviously told you about me having dinner with them.”

  “Yeah…but she just mentioned it in passing. I don’t think she thought she was revealing any big secret. She just mentioned that she and Crystal had had dinner with you, but that she hadn’t said anything to you about asking me to do the bachelor party. I guess maybe she thought I wouldn’t want you to know if I did it.”

  “Yeah…that sounds like Thuy. So?”

  “So…what?”

  “So what did you tell her about doing the bachelor party?”

  “Oh. I told her I’d think about it.”

  “Really? You’d consider it?”

  “Oh, no…not really.” She lifted her head and looked into my eyes. “I mean…the idea does kinda…um…make me tingle in certain places. But I don’t think I could do it again. Not without you being there, anyway.” She winked and gave me a peck on the lips. “I just told Thuy I’d think about it because I was jealous about you dating Crystal. I guess it felt like she was taking my place, and I thought maybe doing the bachelor party would be a way to get back at you. Childish, I know, but…”

  I kissed her on the forehead and then the tip of her nose. “I understand the feeling. You were with Ted, and I felt like he was taking my place.”

  “But he’s my husband…”

  “Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t make it any easier for me.”

  I lifted her chin with my forefinger and kissed her lips. “So…should I forget about getting Crystal to be Bill’s date?”

  Karen shook her head slightly. “No. It’s actually a good idea…as long as she doesn’t say anything about that bachelor party I did with her.”

  “I’ll have a chat with her about that. But I don’t think you need to worry. Women in her line of work are usually pretty good about being discreet.”

  Given my arrangement with Crystal, I was confident she wouldn’t be a problem. Not in that regard, anyway. But I wasn’t so sure what would happen if Crystal let Karen…or Mai…know that I had become her sugar daddy. I’d need to chat with her about that, too.

  “Yeah, I suppose they need to be.” Karen put her arms around my neck and kissed me. “I’m turning into a prune. Let’s get out of here and dry off.”

  I turned off the shower. Karen minced over to the linen closet and picked up two fresh towels. She tossed one to me.

  We stood a few feet apart and looked into each other’s eyes while we dried ourselves. I couldn’t read her. Something still seemed amiss, but I didn’t know what. Disappointment washed over me. It seemed a long time since Ted had come home, and I had been really looking forward to finally having a chance to make love with Karen this afternoon. But now I had my doubts that it was in the cards. Guilt over my arrangement with Crystal and images of Karen’s passionate tryst with Bill filled my mind. Was she secretly really pissed about Crystal? Had she fucked Bill so passionately right in front of me as some sort of revenge? Was she planning to go home now and leave me wanting?

  Karen wrapped her towel around herself and headed back into the bedroom. I dropped mine on the floor and followed her, anxious that she was going to get dressed and leave.

  But she just stood there, gazing at the bed. My eyes were drawn to the rather substantial wet spot she and Bill had left. My stomach churned.

  “I’m so jealous of Crystal,” she said very softly, still contemplating the bed. “I do understand, you know. You have every right. I mean, I’m married to Ted…and there’s Bill… But I just can’t help it.”

  She turned and came into my arms and pressed her lips against my ear. “You belong to me,” she whispered.

  I hugged her and kissed her ear. “Yes, I belong to you,” I whispered back.

  “But…” She leaned back and looked into my eyes with a smirk. “Your ass is up for grabs…right?” She winked, causing a tear to roll down her cheek. “I understand perfectly.”

  We just stood there and held each other, our bodies separated only by the towel wrapped around her. She gave me a lingering kiss and then nodded toward the bed. “I have a couple of hours before the girls get home from school.” My spirits soared as she pulled off her towel and spread it out over the wet spot.

  We lay down together in the center of the bed, arms around each other and legs intertwined. Our kisses were slow and deep. I pulled her hard against me. “You belong to me,” I whispered.

  She pressed her cheek hard against mine. “Oh, yes, yes…always and forever,” she whispered back.

  She worked her hand down between us and grasped my cock. I went from somewhat-swollen to rock-hard in an instant.

  “Time to take what’s yours,” she said.

  * * * *

  “The most important thing to remember is that you don’t know Karen.” I glanced at Crystal and then looked back at the road ahead.

  We were on our way to meet Bill at Kincaid’s. She was wearing a tangerine-colored dress that contrasted wonderfully with her dark skin. It was made of some stretchy material that clung to her like paint, highlighting the fullness of her breasts and hips in contrast with her tiny waist. It reminded me of some of the dresses Karen had worn on her dates with Bill, but unlike Karen’s, Crystal’s dress was not backless, nor did it have a plunging neckline. It gave just a hint of her cleavage, but otherwise covered her completely down to her knees. It was held up by narrow shoulder straps that basically left her shoulders bare. Her naturally outsized breasts were high and round, and her nipples weren’t showing, so I assumed she was wearing a strapless bra. If she was wearing panties, they couldn’t have been much more than a G-string. I figured she was going to knock Bill’s socks off.

  “Bill probably is going to tell you about Karen and why he wants you to go to the party with him, so you have to pretend you don’t know who he is talking about.”

  “Okay…but why keep secret from him?”

  “Because Karen doesn’t want Bill to know about the bachelor party. I told him that’s how I knew you…from a bachelor party…but he has no idea that Karen was there with us. So there’s no reason why you would know her.”

  Crystal nodded. “I see. No worry. I keep secret for you.”

  “Bill’s a nice guy, so you’ll probably like him. But if you don’t, you can always call me and I’ll come pick you up.”

  “No, I sure it be fine. You like I go bed with him?”

  “That’s up to you. Getting to know him that well might make you two seem like a legitimate couple when you come to the party, but don’t do it if you don’t want to.”

  “What you tell him?”

  “Just that you were meeting him for dinner, and maybe he could get you to go dancing with him after.”

  “Oh, th
at be fun.”

  “So after that, you can go home with him, or ask him to take you home…or call me…whatever you decide.”

  When we got to Kincaid’s, Bill already was there, waiting at the bar. He saw me and waved…and then did a double-take when he realized that the gorgeous young woman next to me had to be Crystal.

  Crystal and I were given a table with a great view of the sunset. Bill came over from the bar and joined us. The gleam in his eyes told me he had forgotten all about Karen, at least for the moment.

  Bill and Crystal seemed to warm up to each other right away. Bill obviously was smitten with Crystal, and she seemed totally at ease with him. I stayed for a drink and the crab-and-artichoke-dip appetizer, but by the time the sun had set, I was feeling like a fifth wheel. I excused myself and left them to dine alone.

  * * * *

  “She said she’d go to the party with me,” Bill said. He had called me about his date with Crystal. “She seemed to understand why I wanted her to go, and what might be involved, and she was cool with it.”

  “That’s good. Mai is due back tomorrow, so we could have something set up pretty soon. There is one thing, though. If Mai calls and invites you to a party, you’ll need to figure out a way to let her know you’ll be bringing Crystal.”

  “Okay… Well, what if I just tell her I’d feel uncomfortable coming alone. You know, it would feel more natural for everyone if I had a date, too. Seem like less of a set-up.”

  “I think she’d get that. In fact, when she tells me she’s trying to set Karen up with you, maybe I’ll suggest something like that, too.”

  “Listen… I hope you don’t mind me asking about this, but... Did you pay Crystal to spend the night with me?”

  I chuckled. “Nope. She owed me a favor, so she agreed to meet you and have dinner with you to talk about going to the party. But going home with you wasn’t part of our deal. She did that all on her own.”

  “No shit? So what happens later? You know, after the party. Any reason why I can’t keep seeing her?”

  Bill’s question seemed an obvious one, and yet I hadn’t even considered the possibility until he asked. I needed to give it some thought.

  “What about Karen?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I don’t wanna mess that up. But, you know, she had her hands full with the two of us, and now that her husband is home…”

  “Hands full?”

  “Yeah…among other things.”

  Bill had a point. Since Ted came home, neither of us had seen Karen other than that one time.

  “Well,” I said. “I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to ask Crystal about what happens between you after the party.” And she’ll ask me…

  * * * *

  I was sitting in a lounge chair out by the pool, sipping on a Tanqueray-and-tonic and enjoying the sunset when I heard the landline ring. Mai was in the kitchen cooking, so I decided to stay where I was and let her get it. The call probably was for her, anyway. I hardly ever get calls on the landline anymore.

  I heard her answer. At first she seemed a little confused about who was calling, but then I heard surprise and recognition in her voice. I had a hard time making out what she was saying, but she was having an animated conversation with someone in English. After a minute or so, her voice took on a conspiratorial tone. She continued the conversation for at least ten more minutes, and then said goodbye.

  Mai had been speaking English, so I knew it wasn’t one of her girlfriends who had called. I wondered if it was Ted. The timing was about right. I had told Karen to wait a couple of days after Mai got back before telling him about the time Mai and I had the threesome with Bill.

  I didn’t want to reveal my own hand in the conspiracy to get Mai to introduce Bill to Ted, so I didn’t ask her who had called. I just watched the sun sink below the horizon and waited to see if she volunteered any information.

  About fifteen minutes later, she came onto the pool deck and set a couple of bowls of pho on the table. “Dinner ready,” she said.

  I got right up and went to the table. I had been looking forward to eating Mai’s cooking again. There are two things she’s really, really good at, and cooking Vietnamese food is one of them.

  As we started to eat, I had to stifle my desire to ask her about the phone call. It would have been out of character for me to ask about a call that obviously had been for her. So, I waited to see if she would bring it up.

  “Guess who call?” she finally said.

  “I don’t know…Lisa?” Lisa was the western name adopted by one of her Vietnamese girlfriends.

  “No…Ted…Karen husband.”

  “No kidding. What’d he want? He trying to get into your panties again?”

  “Not me. ‘Member Bill?”

  “Of course.”

  “Maybe something exciting for him. Ted like watch Karen kit-kit with black man, so he ask if I can introduce to Bill.”

  “Really? How does Ted know about Bill?”

  “That time we go Maui with them, I tell Karen ‘bout me and you and Bill. So now, Ted looking black guy for kit-kit Karen, and she tell him about what I tell her. So Ted call me, ask about Bill.”

  “I see.”

  “What? Make you jealous…Bill kit-kit Karen? I know you be with her when I gone.”

  “You know me.”

  We ate in silence for a few minutes. Finally, I asked, “You still seeing Bill?”

  “I been in Vietnam. Just came Hawaii. You know that.”

  “I know. I meant before you left. You haven’t said anything about him for a while.”

  “Bill very fun guy. Dance very good. Kiss very good. Kit-kit very good. But he want too much. He want me come stay with him…marry him. So I cut off with him for little bit.”

  “But you’re gonna call him about Ted and Karen?”

  “Maybe. I thinking how I can introduce. Maybe I give Bill number to Ted and he can call. Invite Bill over to kit-kit Karen.”

  “That might be a little awkward for Ted, calling a strange man and asking him to come fuck his wife. Don’t you think Ted and Karen should meet Bill first? I mean, what if he shows up at their house and they don’t like him? Or he doesn’t like them? Then what?”

  “That true. Better they meet somewhere first.”

  “Remember how we met Ted and Karen? At the party?”

  “Of course.”

  “Maybe we should have a party here. Invite them all over for a barbecue. Everybody can get to know each other. No pressure.”

  Mai looked in my eyes for a moment and broke into a knowing smile. “You like see, huh? You like watch Karen kit-kit black guy.”

  I shrugged. “You know me.”

  “Okay. I call Bill. Maybe we have party.”

  “Um… You know what? It might be more comfortable for everyone if we had another woman here, too. So it would be three couples.”

  Mai gazed at me for a minute. “Why? You like kit-kit somebody new?”

  “Well, you know me… But what I meant was, if it’s only Bill, then it might be awkward. Too much pressure, sort of like if Bill just went to their house.”

  Mai nodded. “Okay, I think about. Maybe I know somebody.”

  “Maybe you should ask Bill, too. He might know someone.”

  Mai shrugged. “Maybe.”

  We finished eating, and Mai cleared the table. I had learned early-on in our relationship that she had very traditional views of the roles of men and women, and I long-ago had given up trying to help her with things like cleaning up and washing dishes. So, I made myself another drink and gazed across the pool at the lights of Waikiki.

  I had a vision of Karen in the pool, naked and sandwiched between Bill and Ted. And then there was Crystal. Notwithstanding the fact that Mai had been fucking me dry every night since she got back, I felt that stirring in my balls…and a bit of queasiness in my stomach.

  Mai didn’t take very long in the kitchen, and I soon could hear her talking on the phone again. She was speaking English
and using the syrupy-sweet voice she used with men when she wanted something from them. I was pretty sure she was talking with Bill.

  A while later, she showed up on the pool deck with coffee. Hot and black for me, iced with god-knows-what in it for her.

  “I talk Bill,” she said. “He very happy hear my voice. Say he like see me. I tell about Karen and invite he to party.”

  “I assume he’s coming?”

  “Of course!” Mai paused for a few seconds. “But he have same idea. He like bring somebody. Say he not feel good if two couple and him. He say make he feel like meat.”

  I laughed at that. It reminded me of an old Al Bundy line when Peggy and some other woman were fighting over him. Makes me feel like a piece of meat. And I kinda LIKE it!

  “So does he have someone, or does he want you to find someone for him?”

  “He say he know some lady. He ask her.”

  “Make you jealous?”

  “Me jealous about that lady? No, I don’t think so.”

  I wondered if she would change her mind when she laid eyes on Crystal. And I made a mental note to warn both Bill and Crystal not to say anything to Mai about how I already knew Crystal. Oh what a tangled web.

  * * * *

  We decided to have the party on Saturday, starting mid-afternoon, and we told everyone to bring a toothbrush. I didn’t want anyone driving home drunk, and if all went well, we’d probably end up partying all night, anyway.

  Karen and Ted showed up first. After our time in Hana, we all were pretty comfortable with each other, despite a slight undercurrent of rivalry between Karen and Mai. Karen gave me a nervous look as she came over to hug me and kiss my cheek.

  Both women were wearing t-shirts and shorts. Karen’s bounteous breasts seemed to move pretty freely under her shirt, but I couldn’t see her nipples, so I assumed she probably was wearing a bikini underneath her clothes. Mai, however, was showcasing her silicone-enhanced breasts. She obviously was wearing nothing under her t-shirt. Her dark areolas weren’t visible through the fabric, but her pacifier-like nipples formed peaks that seemed to be magnets for Ted’s eyes.