A New Kind of Bliss

by Bettye Griffin

  And I hadn’t packed the first thing to sleep in, or at least to wear to bed.

  Shucks. I wanted our first time together to be special.

  I got out of my Altima just before he reached it. He gave me a quick but forceful kiss with just a hint of tongue. Good thing he steadied me by putting an arm around my waist, or else I would have slithered to the ground like a garter snake. I used my remote to unlock the remaining doors, and he tossed the duffel that hung from his shoulder inside before turning to me once more.

  “I missed you,” he said earnestly.

  “I missed you, too. Thought about you all the time.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Come on, let’s get out of here so they can have the space.”

  I got behind the wheel, and he sat in the passenger seat. “Did you want to hit the road now, or maybe eat first?” I asked as I pulled away from the curb.

  “You’ve gotten everything done?” He sounded surprised.

  “Yes. I took my clothes—at least the ones I’ll be needing—with me to the post office yesterday and shipped them to my mother’s. I’ve got my computer on the floor in the back, and the condo is all clean.” I shrugged. “So I’m good to go.”

  “It’s been years since the last time I was out here. I attended an AMA convention here once. Tell you what. Since it’s kind of late in the day to start a long drive, why don’t we go get some lunch, and then you can give me a tour of the city. We’ll get an early start tomorrow.”

  “Um…you do realize that my condo is all prepared for rental. I changed the linens and fluffed all the cushions this morning. I’d be afraid to as much as sit down in there.”

  He smiled at me. Even his mouth was sexy, I thought. “I anticipated as much, and I certainly don’t want to mess up all your preparations. I figured we’d get a room. Or, if you prefer, rooms.”

  I had a quick thought of my mother. Usually she sprouted lines like, “Why should he buy the cow when he can get the milk for free?” But when I told her that Aaron planned to fly out and drive back with me, she’d asked, “Will you be spending a night on the road?” with an eagerness that sounded to me like she was ready to make the hotel reservation herself, just to make sure we had no problems doing the deed. I knew she wouldn’t be quite so receptive to the idea of my sleeping with Aaron if he were, say, a locksmith. What a difference an M.D. degree makes.

  I decided to play with him a little. “You mean, you in one room and me in another? That doesn’t sound very cozy, especially after us not seeing each other for nearly a week.”

  He grinned at me across the console. “I was hoping you’d say that. I just didn’t want you to think I was rushing you,” he said shyly. “You have to understand I’m a bit out of practice with this sort of thing.”

  I knew what he meant. One of the best things about being married is that you get all the sex you want.

  “Do you feel like eating anything in particular?” I asked innocently.

  He shrugged, my double entendre going right over his head. “What do you suggest?”

  “There’s a pub downtown I like. Burgers, chicken, ribs, pizza, sandwiches, stuff like that.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I can find something on that list that appeals to my taste buds.”

  I headed downtown and parked inside the Circle Center Garage. “It’s just a short walk from here,” I said.

  At lunch he ordered the chicken-and-ribs platter and I had jambalaya. We both had beer. Then we walked back to the Circle Center, a collection of upscale shops that had been made into a mall via the contribution of a couple of smart architects. The department store anchors were still accessible for pedestrians on the streets of downtown, but somehow it all connected. We did a little window shopping, then went to the theater in the mall and caught a matinee showing of one of those innocent-man-accused-of-murder thrillers. Finally, we headed back to the car.

  I drove around downtown, pointing out the State Capitol, the Convention Center, and Market Square Arena, even the Benjamin Harrison House.

  Aaron looked at everything with what appeared to be genuine interest, although I knew he’d seen it all before. Maybe he was trying to figure out what was different. “Hey, there’s the Hilton. Let’s go by there and see if they have any availability.”

  They did, so Aaron registered us, or I guess he registered himself. I’d always presumed that men checking into hotels with women they weren’t married to just listed themselves on the register.

  He came outside waving a key card. We took our bags out of the car and got into the elevator. I tried not to look over at the registration desk. I’m sure the folks manning it were looking at me with that “we know what you’re going to be doing in the next five minutes” look on their faces.

  Actually, what happened in the next five minutes was that both of us fell asleep, me on the bed and him in the reclining easy chair. Travel on his part, cleaning and packing on mine, plus a heavy meal and all that sightseeing had done us in. I woke up before he did, and I was pleased to hear the sound of easy breathing and nothing else. I hugged myself in anticipation. Not only was he good-looking, not only was he rich, but he didn’t snore. Mom was right: I’d really hit the jackpot.

  I took a shower while he slept and put on a white cotton eyelet sundress in anticipation of dinner. It was rather casual, but it was all I had with me.

  Aaron opened his eyes a little after six. “Wow, I was really knocked out.”

  “Not really. It was nearly four when we checked in.”

  “It’s going on ten after six now. Would you like to get some dinner?”

  The truth was, I was feeling a little peckish, but I didn’t want him to think I was one of those women who ate like a horse when someone else was footing the bill and practically starved herself the rest of the time. Nor did I want to sound impressed by his casual invitation to go out to get another meal after that nice lunch we had. I could get used to eating out like this all the time.

  “Something light,” I said. “Maybe a salad. But this time it’s on me.” The man had flown all the way out from New York to help me drive seven hundred miles, plus he’d paid for an extremely comfortable hotel room. The least I could do was buy him dinner. Even if it set me back a hundred bucks.

  He opened his mouth, presumably to object, but I stopped those kissable lips of his from forming the words by holding out my palm like a traffic cop. “I won’t have it any other way, Aaron.”

  He gave me a lazy smile. “Something tells me its hopeless to argue with you. All right, Emily. There’s a McCormick and Schmick’s in the hotel. Good food, and I don’t have to wear a jacket. How’s that?”

  “Perfect. I was hoping you wouldn’t want to go far.”

  “I’m going to take a quick shower, and then I’ll be ready.”

  I took advantage of his time in the shower by going downstairs to the restaurant and asking to see a menu. I was relieved to see it was a moderately priced restaurant specializing in seafood. Since Aaron assumed I was familiar with it, I figured they had locations in major cities.

  It was still light out when we emerged from the restaurant into the hotel lobby, courtesy of it being close to the summer solstice. When we returned to our room Aaron remarked, “I probably should change and go down to the exercise room for a quick workout, but I’m going to take the loutish way out.” He kicked off his shoes and stretched out on his back on one side of the king-sized bed, one arm folded behind his head, the other channel-surfing with the remote. I went to wash the make-up off my face and to take off those killer heels, which looked sexy but were hell to walk in. I saw no reason to stand on ceremony. In fact, this might be a good way for things to progress naturally. I’d eaten only a bowl of chowder and a Cobb salad with crabmeat, shrimp, and scallops, but my belly felt almost uncomfortably full. “You look awfully comfortable,” I said. “Mind if I join you?”

  He patted the empty space beside him. “There’s plenty of room.”

  I climbed onto the bed and lay down c
lose to him. His arm automatically went around my shoulder.

  “Anything good on?” I asked.

  “This spy thriller on pay-per-view doesn’t look bad. I wanted to ask you about it. For all I know you’ve already seen it.” He flicked to the title and description.

  “I missed that one, but it sounds good.”

  For the next two hours, we lay companionably together watching the film. During the obligatory scene when the leading man bedded his love interest, Aaron turned to me for a kiss, and I was only too happy to comply. My body tingled when he squeezed my breast. Something had told me he wouldn’t want to jump right into the nitty-gritty as soon as we returned from dinner. I liked the idea of cuddling together on the bed while watching a movie, playing footsie.

  Aaron alternately stroked and squeezed my arm periodically. By the time the closing credits ran, I think both of us were ready to move to the next level. I can’t remember the last time I felt so excited about the prospect of having sex.

  He moved so excruciatingly slowly, it was almost maddening. He was a great kisser, though. When I reached out and touched the goods, I wanted to whoop for joy. Handsome, rich, successful,…and packing, too.

  The way he stared at me after I was nude made me feel like the most beautiful creature on earth, and that’s quite a stretch, since I’m forty-two and I don’t exercise.

  Aaron, on the other hand, does work out. The sight of him naked left me breathless, and I’m not just talking about from the waist down. He had toned abs, muscled but not huge biceps, and a well-developed chest with tightly coiled curls in its center. He put on a condom and moved between my thighs, and the way he groaned the moment he got inside me brought tears to my eyes. I knew exactly how he felt. It had been a drought for me as well, although probably not as long as his. I squeezed the cheeks of his butt like they could save me from drowning and squeezed him with my vaginal muscles, welcoming him into my body.

  I’m embarrassed to say this, but that first time went only about three minutes. I was just too excited, and so was he.

  “My God, I think I lasted longer than that my very first time,” he said ruefully, his face close to mine but to the side, where I couldn’t actually see him. “I must apologize to you.”

  “Don’t. I couldn’t control myself, either.” I had a memory of my own first time, and how quickly my partner had reached climax. It had taken all of thirty seconds. I giggled at the recollection. “Besides, we can always do it again.”

  “You can count on that.”

  Ten minutes later we did just that, and this time we acted more like experienced adults than horny teenagers with no control.

  Afterward I reached down to finger his penis, now both limp and sticky. “I think it’s dead,” he joked. “But don’t worry, it’s not permanent.” He kissed me firmly on the mouth. “You don’t know how much I looked forward to tonight. I want you to know that making love to you was everything I thought it would be.”

  “I enjoyed it, too, Aaron.”

  We lay locked in each other’s arms for a few minutes. When sleep began to overtake us we broke apart. I rolled over onto my stomach, fulfilled but with a nagging sense that something wasn’t right.

  Then, as I was falling asleep, it hit me.

  The second time was exactly the same as the first. That was awfully unusual. I mean, I’m not saying I’ve been around the block more times than the mailman, but nothing like that had ever happened to me before. In my experience, the second time was always a little friskier, a little daring…a little less…traditional. It was like that “getting-to-know-you” phase giving way to “getting to know what you like.” And it usually involved a different position.

  I shrugged, a little sleepy, considering I had to get up in just a few hours and start on a long drive. Aaron was probably as tired as I was. Traveling always did that to a person. The next time he’d demonstrate that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

  My arms went to the sides of my pillow and my eyes closed. The mattress rocked a bit as he changed position, lying on his side facing me. I smiled as his arm rested on the curve of my hip. His very touch excited me.

  “I have a confession to make.”

  I opened my eyes. It seemed a little early to be making true confessions, but I was always ready to listen if someone wanted to spill his guts. I just hoped he didn’t expect me to do the same.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re just the second woman I’ve ever been with.”

  For a moment this rendered me speechless. I swallowed hard. Then I said the only thing I could say. “Really?”

  “The only other woman I’ve been intimate with was the one I married.”

  My God. Was I lying in bed with a man who’d been a virgin when he got married? A man whose sexual experience paled in comparison with my own? I felt distinct twinges of discomfort at the center of my stomach.

  “How old were you when you got married?” I asked.

  “Twenty-seven. But we weren’t virgins all that time. We’d known each other since freshman year in college.”

  Thank heavens for that. It gave a whole new dimension to the famous Jimi Hendrix question, Are You Experienced? Not that I was about to tell him how many guys I’d slept with. Even if I could remember them all. It’s just not the type of thing one keeps track of, like a basketball score. With his chaste record, Aaron would likely think I was two steps removed from being a hooker.

  If I was just the second woman he had known in the biblical sense, it was pretty easy to figure out that he hadn’t had sex in quite some time. I was surprised he hadn’t made a quick trip to Vegas or Rio or somewhere just to get laid anonymously, since he could afford it, with no one pulling on his M.D. strings, just to get release.

  “It’s like riding a bicycle,” I murmured sleepily. But when I slept I had a strange dream. I was facing someone who was mostly unseen except for a slender arm and long, tapered fingers with polished nails. That told me it was a woman, and she was shaking her index finger at me.

  My eyes flew open. The unseen woman had to be Aaron’s late wife, and the gesture was clear. If I could see her face, she’d no doubt be mouthing the words, “Stay away from my husband!”

  Chapter 9

  We didn’t leave quite as early as we planned to. Last night’s rigorous sex after such a long drought had worn both of us out. It was a little after eight by the time we got on the road for the seven-hundred-plus mile drive, which meant we wouldn’t reach our destination before nine P.M.

  I don’t know which state is wider, Ohio or Pennsylvania. All I know is that both are boring in terms of scenery…and that the people of America consume a heck of a lot of corn. For years I thought all the corn came from true Midwest states like my adopted home of Indiana, which could be summed up as containing one large city at its center, the fringes of the Greater Chicago area in the northwest corner, a couple of college towns, and lots and lots of cornfields. Corn seemed to be a staple of the Ohio and Pennsylvania landscapes. One has to wonder how they’re going to keep their young people down on the farm after they’ve seen Cleveland or Pittsburgh.

  Speaking of Pittsburgh, my sister called my cell phone while we were riding through West Virginia to say she hoped Aaron and I would be able to stop by her house. We could even spend the night, she said. I knew that Mom hadn’t been able to contain her excitement about Aaron’s offer to fly out and drive back with me and blabbed, and that Cissy just wanted to get a look at him to see if he was really all that.

  “I’m sorry, Cissy, but we can’t,” I told her. “Aaron has to be back at work on Monday. We’re going to drive straight through, and he’ll be able to rest tomorrow.”

  As I spoke I realized something I hadn’t thought of previously. So great was my fascination with all those farms we were passing that it hadn’t occured to me that since we were driving my car, I would have to drop Aaron off. That meant I’d get to see where he lived.

  We stopped at a Chinese buffet som
ewhere in Western Pennsylvania for a leisurely hour-long lunch. Aside from breaks to gas up and to use the bathroom, we kept driving.

  The New York skyline lit up the twilight sky as we approached the George Washington Bridge. It had been many years since I’d seen the skyline in the evening, and I always found it breathtaking. I was grateful we hadn’t taken the Lincoln or Holland tunnels across. The view from the approaches to either tunnel farther to the south would only emphasize the missing Twin Towers. The gap in the skyline isn’t so obvious from this far north, where midtown giants like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building rule.

  “I guess I’m home,” I said softly. New York hadn’t felt like home to me for a long time. My change in attitude had a lot to do with the man sitting next to me.

  Aaron maneuvered to the shortest E-ZPass lane. “I’ve got my card with me,” he explained. “I hope you don’t mind having to drop me off, Emily. I don’t know how else I can get your car to you.” He paused. “You know, Tanis lives just a few blocks away from me. Maybe I could ask her to drive down behind me, and she can give me a lift home.”

  “No.” It practically came out as a shout, and I quickly calmed myself and spoke more quietly. “No, I don’t mind at all. Now that we’re so close to Westchester I feel like I’ve gotten my second wind.” We’d both napped during the long drive. “I can even take the wheel if you want. You’ve been driving since before we crossed into Jersey.”

  “No, I can make it from here. It’s probably less than half an hour. Besides, I’d only have to tell you to turn here, turn there.” He paused. “When we get to my house I’d like you to come in for a few minutes. My kids will be up. You can meet them.”

  “Uh…sure!” I said more cheerfully than I felt. I looked forward to seeing where he lived, but I had doubts about meeting his family. He’d met Mom, of course, but that was different. He could hardly come to pick me up without meeting her, since I was staying at her apartment. I couldn’t help feeling a tad nervous at the prospect of meeting his kids. Isn’t that supposed to be a good sign when a man invites you to meet his family? Unconsciously I brushed a hand over my chest, wiping away any lint. I felt something hard, like dried-up something.