Essence of an Affair

by Max Sebastian

  Slowly, she hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her panties over her hips, and glanced up at him as though to make sure he was ready for this. Then she stooped to peel her underwear slowly down her thighs. She dropped them over her knees and stood upright, allowing the little scrap of black lace to drop to the floor, leaving herself only in her stockings.

  Jens ran his eyes all over her, amazed at her beauty, his gaze ultimately falling between her legs, where a tidy little stripe of black fur pointed the way over her mound to her sex.

  'So what happened when you got back to his place?'

  'We had a glass of wine,' she said, her hands drifting over her bare skin as she stood before him. 'Then I guess we were making out...'

  Oh, to be Nicolai. To be entirely confident enough to approach a woman like Effie, to touch her, to taste her. Jens quietly stood up and went to sit on the end of his bed--a few precious meters closer to his near-naked wife. She seemed surprised at his move, but concealed her feelings well. It seemed to Jens that she didn't want to scare him away, she wanted to encourage him, however bold he was willing to be.

  'You enjoyed... kissing him?' he asked her.

  'Uh-huh,' she said, her eyes feeling him out every moment to see how he was responding to her, and whether she should continue or suggest calling it a night. Once she knew he was still very much on board, she added, 'it was nice. He's a good kisser.'

  From here, he could see the goosebumps rising all over her smooth skin, even apparently on her dark nipples. Her scent was stronger, too, that shampoo but also something else, a more earthy scent that he wanted to believe was her arousal beginning to become apparent.

  'You were in his bedroom?' he asked.

  'Not at first,' she said. 'But it wasn't long until we were there. On his bed.'

  He saw her shake a little on her feet--she was tired, she was perhaps a little nervous at what was going on here. She'd had a few drinks during the course of the night, too. He said, 'Why don't you sit? Get comfortable.'

  She perched down on the end of her bed, and she really was only a meter or two away now. He was surprised at how close he was to her--at how he was holding it together while he did, and how powerful his attraction was toward her.

  'Are you okay?' she asked him, her brow crinkling with concern.

  He nodded. 'I think so.'

  'I could... I could go take another shower.'

  'No,' he shook his head, 'I'm fine.'

  He took his hands away from his lap as though to demonstrate that he was fine, just as he'd said, but then his towel fell open, no doubt since it was straining to contain his sizable bulge.

  'Wow, well I guess you are,' she said, delighted but trying to maintain her calm, loving how he was responding to her. She leaned back on the bed, lifting one leg so that he could watch every part of her, gifting him a superlative view of everything down to her dark pussy lips.

  He could smell her now, he could detect that same spicy scent he'd caught from her underwear before--this was her excitement, this was her sex.

  'You tell me whenever you start getting uncomfortable,' she said, her hand slowly gliding over her caramel skin, over her breasts and down her stomach.

  'I will,' he said, transfixed.

  Somehow she seemed outside the rules, outside his rules for dealing with people. As though she was suddenly immune to triggering his usual unease with other members of the species. Or perhaps, he wondered, his own arousal--his hard cock--simply overrode his usual reactions to his proximity to another person.

  All he knew was, he breathed in the air around her, and it only excited him, it only turned him on more.

  'Tell me what happened,' he asked her again, and this time she was ready to do as he asked.

  'I took off my dress for him,' she said. 'Just like I did for you. And then he was kissing me some more, touching me. His hands all over me...'

  Right in front of Jens, Effie was gently stroking herself between her legs. He could hardly believe it, how sexy it was, how pink her pussy was, as she parted her dark lips, how easy it was to see how wet she was already getting--and how thrilled he was to watch her, without a hint of unease.

  'He took everything so slow,' she said, 'making sure I was comfortable with all of it, before he went any further. I guess... I hoped he was going to be like that... it took away the fear...'

  She gazed at him as she dipped a finger in her pussy, and she was both turned on by his watching and impressed at how he was overcoming his own deep-rooted fears even as she had overcome hers in the company of her new lover, Nicolai.

  'We were kissing so deeply--lips, tongues, the whole deal. And he was stroking my breasts and my pussy through my underwear... I was getting so wet for him...'

  And now she was getting so wet for Jens, he could see her pussy lips glistening, he could hear the wet sounds as she thrust her finger inside herself, simulating sex.

  '...We were just standing by his bed, and I was tearing off his clothes, kissing his chest as I knelt down to remove his pants... and then there was his big cock, right in front of me--'

  She looked over to find Jens had his cock in his hand now, and was beginning to stroke it. Seeing him, she was like the cat that got the cream--it was a surprise, she hadn't even thought he was able to do such a thing. Jens was so distracted by her, he hardly even noticed the clammy nature of his own skin, the thin sheen of perspiration over his forehead, and some on his chest. The gentle prickle of heat on the back of his neck. He gripped his hard shaft and slowly pumped it, and it felt good as he watched Effie touching herself. Fucking herself.

  'You went down on him?' he asked her.

  She nodded. 'He was so patient. It was like I was a teenager again, I was feeling my way, learning everything from scratch. Taking that big thing in my hands... and then in my mouth...'

  Jens dropped down onto the floor. He was kneeling right in front of her, his body almost between her legs. It was incredible--he kept waiting for his feelings to turn negative, for his body to revolt against his powerful sexual urges, and yet it wasn't happening. He wasn't getting ill. Every tiny step he made toward her was more thrilling than the last.

  He gazed up her beautiful body, seeing her sex in detail, her fingers caressing the delicate folds of her pussy lips, stretching her flesh, stroking circles around her clit. He looked up at how stiff her nipples were, at how bright her smile was across her pretty face.

  'You liked it?' he asked her.

  She nodded. 'For some of it, I imagined it was you,' she said. 'And some of it... I imagined you were watching, and you enjoyed watching.'

  He smiled, and saw her panties lying there on the floor beside him. 'I think I would enjoy watching,' he said, and picked up that little tiny lacy item.

  There was no shame now, it seemed. He pressed her panties to his face and breathed in her scent. He felt the dampness in the material, and he didn't care. It was so hot. She'd been wearing these while she'd sucked on another man's hard cock.

  She'd been so turned on. Like she was now.

  He breathed in her scent from those panties, and looked up at her beautiful eyes, her radiant smile, her beaming adoration, at her approval. He smelled her arousal, and watched as she stroked herself into a powerful climax, her body twitching and shaking and writhing on the bed as her sighs turned into plaintive cries.

  He watched her fingers strumming her pussy lips and when she was done, seeming somewhat shocked to have come like that, so close to him, she sat up, giggling, saying how good she felt, asking whether he was really still okay.

  'Oh yes,' he smiled, and she leaned down as though forgetting herself, forgetting the boundaries. She leaned down and he knew what she was seeking, and he tilted his head up to meet her lips, pressing his own against hers--only briefly, astounded at how soft and how sweet her lips seemed. A kiss, their first.

  And then he felt his cock bucking and bolting and firing off stream after stream of thick cream.

  'Oh God, I'm so sorry,' he said,
embarrassed and yet somehow so elated.

  And she seemed so happy, his early ejaculation hardly took the edge off things at all.

  11

  Eve's Orchard

  'So am I right in thinking she hasn't... had full intercourse with the other man, yet?' the therapist asked.

  Jens shook his head. 'Not yet. They were taking things step by step--they almost went all the way, but not quite yet.'

  'Has it changed your own feelings about Effie sleeping with Nicolai--the fact that you've been making so much progress yourself?'

  'No, not really. I still want her to date him. I still want her to... sleep with him. I think she'd have fun.'

  'And you're still having strong sexual desires for her to see another man besides yourself?'

  'Yes, you might say that.'

  Monday morning, Effie was up at 6:30 as usual, having her breakfast of cereal and rye bread with mild cheese while watching the morning news, before hopping under the shower. Jens woke--as usual for him--while Effie was taking her shower, but instead of heading out to have his breakfast while Effie dressed and got ready for work, today Jens remained where he was, in bed.

  He watched her step out of the bathroom, he watched her drying off.

  'Oh--God!' she said as she pulled the towel away from her head, and saw him lying there in bed completely unexpectedly. 'You made me jump!'

  'Sorry,' he smiled. 'You want me to go out there?'

  She flashed him the brightest of smiles herself as she saw him admiring her naked body as she let the towel slip. 'I don't mind you staying,' she said, giving him a subtle twirl as though she was assessing her rear view in the mirror. 'But don't you think there's a danger you'll get... you know... all hot and bothered?'

  He chuckled. 'I think we're way past that stage,' he said, peeling back the bedsheet to reveal his hard cock.

  She flashed her eyes as she caught sight of it, but then pouted. 'It's so unfair, I don't have any time to stay and enjoy it.'

  'You could be late for once,' he suggested.

  She shook her head. 'Not on a Monday.'

  'You're such a corporate worker bee,' he laughed, though he knew Effie was getting sufficiently senior at her multinational bank that she could hardly be labeled a 'worker bee' these days.

  She laughed herself, 'I should give it all up and join a nice little boutique fragrance house like yours. Maybe I could be a receptionist or something.'

  They teased each other about their different jobs, sometimes, but they were both proud of the other. Effie worked so hard, and had risen quickly through the corporate ranks, and done well enough that they could afford to live in a luxury apartment in a nice part of an expensive city. Most of her old university friends had to live miles outside Copenhagen these days. Jens didn't exactly have much room for promotion in his job, there was one 'nose' in a fragrance house, and he was already it. But the fragrances that he was personally responsible for creating were now being sold at the most exclusive stores in Denmark, even at Illum. Effie always saw them when she was shopping along Stroget, the city's walking street, and was always so proud. And one scent was even said to be a favorite of Princess Marie. But neither would have suited working in the other's company.

  This morning, however, Jens changed the subject.

  He said, 'Will you be seeing him today?'

  She said, 'Nicolai?'

  He nodded.

  'Of course,' she smiled, 'he's working at my company just now. I see him every day.'

  She opened the top drawer of her oak chest, and pulled out some underwear. He could see that she was moving more slowly than usual, apparently enjoying having him watch her while she was naked.

  'You should wear something nice, then,' he said. 'Maybe you'll get lucky.'

  'Get 'lucky'?' she laughed. 'You know we don't actually date at the office.'

  He smiled. 'Who knows, maybe there'll be time for a quickie in the stationery cupboard.'

  She held up a tiny little scrap of pale pink satin, a thong that was so scanty it was almost a g-string. Women really wore that kind of underwear, for real? And when did Effie go out and buy that kind of underwear? She must have been preparing to date Nicolai for some time... it seemed hot to Jens.

  'That one,' he said before she could put the pink g-string down again. 'You should wear that.'

  She giggled. 'My husband wants me to wear date panties to work,' she said to herself, amused. But she did stoop to put on the tiny pink thong.

  'You could take him for a nice secluded lunch somewhere... somewhere where there's a little privacy,' he suggested.

  'Down by Christianshavn?' she laughed, referring to the area where her office was located, a neighborhood of old artificial islands separated from the rest of the city center by the Inner Harbor.

  'They have stationery cupboards in your office, right?' he said, stroking himself under the bedsheet while he watched her pull her underwear into place, tweaking at the thin waistband.

  'You have heard we use computers nowadays?' she grinned, again giving him a subtle twirl, loving his attention.

  'Toilets, then, you have to have those.'

  She giggled. 'How romantic.'

  She added the matching pink satin bra, and from the wardrobe a pink shirt that he wouldn't have said was normal for Effie, either, but seemed cute on her. She took out a black pant suit from the wardrobe, and Jens surprised even himself by how boldly he suggested a skirt, instead.

  'My husband wants me to get laid at work,' she said, as though to herself, but she did as he asked and opted for a black skirt that was surprisingly high above the knee.

  'Don't you want to have him lusting after you, every moment he lays eyes on you?' Jens grinned.

  'I like it better when you do,' she said, walking around to his side of the bed now that she was dressed, to give him a close-up view. It was a risk for her, even though he'd gotten so close to her the night before, but it was a calculated risk. She wanted to challenge him, she wanted to push him a little, to encourage his progress.

  He loved every moment of her display, and allowed her to see his response, the bedsheet falling away from his hardness. She genuinely enjoyed seeing that. She was so stunning. He almost reached out to touch her. Instead, he simply watched, and breathed her in.

  'You should put some of that perfume on,' he said. 'Eve's Orchard, isn't it?'

  She stopped still, her jaw dropping at that. 'How did you know--' she said, then, 'I don't wear it in here. And it's always faded by the time I get home...'

  He shrugged. 'It's in your clothes sometimes,' he said. 'It was how I figured out you were dating.'

  She went over to the chest of drawers to pick up her bag--and from it, she withdrew a small fragrance bottle--Eve's Orchard. 'Your senses are amazing, you know that?' she said.

  'You can put a little on, if you like,' he said.

  'Here?'

  He nodded.

  'But you don't like to smell perfume that's being worn by someone.'

  'I like it when it's being worn by you,' he said.

  That made her smile again. He so loved making her smile.

  'I'll put some on when I get to work,' she said.

  'You can put a little on now, if you like.'

  Again, she was surprised. 'You're sure about that?'

  He shrugged. 'I told you, I like it.'

  She gazed over at him, taking in how he watched her, how perfectly attentive he was. 'It's part of your... thing?' she asked him.

  'My thing?'

  'Your fantasy. Your fetish. I don't know what you call it.'

  He smiled. 'It does make me think of you... you know... dating him.'

  She smiled, enjoying turning him on after such a long time in which their relationship, their marriage was sterile of these kinds of feelings. Now he watched as she applied a little perfume to her neck underneath her jawline, behind her knees and to her wrists.

  When she rubbed her wrists together, Jens said, 'You know, you shouldn't rub perfume.
'

  'No?'

  'If you rub perfume, it overheats and the molecules break down. It won't smell as it should.'

  'Oh. Well, you're the expert,' she chuckled.

  'You can just let it lie on your skin,' he said, breathing in deeply, the scent of perfume on his wife thrilling him intensely, partly because he now associated it with the fact that she was dating.

  She took a step toward him, cautiously, but still he seemed to enjoy her presence. 'You're making so much progress, you know that?' she said.

  He stood, and they were directly in front of each other, gazing into each other's eyes. 'You inspire me,' he said quietly, and then he leaned in to plant a delicate little kiss on her closed lips. She was tearing up, he almost thought she was about to cry, but he could tell it was happy tears. It took her a moment or two to pull herself together.

  Then she said, almost whispering, 'I wish I didn't have to go right now.'

  He smiled. 'Go. Work. Flirt with your handsome lover. Find a nice, safe stationery cupboard...'

  She giggled. 'You're incorrigible.'

  'I'll see you tonight. Hopefully, a lot of you.'

  'Can't wait.'

  He lay in her bed after she was gone, breathing her in. God, he was turning into such a degenerate.

  12

  In the Laboratory

  Work, for Jens, meant a six-story building on Rosenborggade, a street in the middle of the city center, not too far from the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. Named after the founder's wife, Mathilde Laursen, it was still owned by the Laursens after nearly a century of operation. A family business, working there had the feeling of being in a kind of extended family.

  While most employees entered the building through the front entrance, Jens was able to drive his little electric car past the row of parked bikes lining the street, and through a large gateway through the building, to the small courtyard at the back. Out of the car, he could access a small door that led directly to the lab, where only he and his assistants were permitted.

  Through the door was a washing station, where he and his assistants could maintain their strict hygiene after stepping in from the outside.