It is nice to be wanted.

“Shouldn't you be upset?” I asked before he could get too far. Ms. Romero still worked to distract me but now I was curious. Curiosity is an excellent way to focus my attention. Dr. Castillo's brightly beaming face returned to view. “Upset? Why should that be so, my friend?”

“Because your barely clad wife is sucking my neck?” Admittedly, it is nice to have someone targeting
my neck and not have to be worried about impeding vamprism.

“Patrick, I am sorry. You are such a clever man that I did not anticipate such an American viewpoint of the situation. Please forgive me if that sounds insulting in any way as I do not mean it to be such. It is such that our attitudes towards the act of intercourse are not so restrictive. It is an expression of affection, a joy to be shared.”

While I grasped the concepts he was expressing, they were just friendly people, it wasn't enough to change my opinion, not in the blinking of an eye anyway. There was just something weird about the idea of being that free with your affections. Dr. Castillo may have detected a sign of confusion yet on my face for he continued. “If it would help you put your mind at ease, I shall state this very directly: You have my permission to enjoy any and all of the charms possessed by my beloved Rosalind.”

During all this Ms. Romero became aware that I was paying little to no attention to her. She paused her efforts in order to wait for the discussion to cease, leaning on my chest in a manner indicating her boredom. At hearing her name, she perked up. “Did you hear that my dear? Any or all of my charms. Please go for all of them.”

She leaned in to kiss me but I politely resisted, made easier by the fact that my left arm had become free when she shifted her weight out of boredom. “Thank you but really, I shouldn't.”

Now it was Ms. Romero's turn to be confused. Wide-eyed, she observed me before resuming a more sultry expression. “I know you are not going to try and tell me that you are not attracted to me. I already have evidence to prove that you do.” In order to explain her point-of-view, she brushed her hand over a rather personal area and smiled.

“Oh no argument there, no, not at all trying to say that,” I burbled while I blushed. “If you are not the most beautiful woman it's ever been my privilege to see, and I believe you are, then at the very least you're in the top five. You have to be the the most beautiful woman to ever be so keen on me and thank you for that.”

“And yet?” she prompted. “I sense there is more for you to say.”

“I can leave the house if my presence makes you uncomfortable,” offered Dr. Castillo. “Alternatively, if you are so interested, I can leave and return in time to catch you in mid-congress. We have known some people interested in that type of entertainment.”

“No, it's not that but the consideration is appreciated,” I noted, striving to remain nice. “It's just that I have a girlfriend.”

Ms. Romero removed herself from my person as if I'd delivered an electric shock. “Oh my dear Patrick, I am so sorry. You should have mentioned this previously.”

“Yes, I am surprised you did not mentioned her previously, or bring her with you to the party,” Dr. Castillo observed.

“I wanted to bring her along,” I noted truthfully, even if I was fudging some of the details regarding my relationship with Sarah Jean at the moment, “but she travels a lot for work and was gone that weekend.”

Despite still being nearly naked, Ms. Romero was back to being sweet and friendly, as opposed to 'friendly'. “What a pity. I would have enjoyed meeting her. What does she do for a living?”

Dr. Castillo grinned. “More importantly, is she pretty?”

Playfully Ms. Romero swatted at his arm. “Do not be silly. Any girlfriend of Patrick will of course be pretty.”

As I sat up, I removed my mobcom unit from my pocket. I have a few pictures of Sarah Jean there, some of which do not feature silly faces or attempts to dodge the camera. I showed a few of these pictures to them. This seemed to seal the deal as I had proved that I at least knew a woman. The picture Harry took of us arm-in-arm didn't hurt either. “Patrick my friend, nicely done,” Dr. Castillo declared. “Is she a natural redhead?”

In retrospect, I'm more aware of what he was asking but at the time I didn't really think about it too much. “As far as I know, yeah.” He gave me a nudge and a “You dog you”, coloring my innocent response with more meaning than I intended.

“She looks quite lovely,” Ms. Romero stated, trying to act calmly in counterpoint to her husband's more 'locker room' mentality. “We should arrange for a dinner meeting. Do you have her schedule?” I shook my head no. I doubt Sarah Jean knows her schedule. She's an adventurer; they don't have regular hours. “We will arrange something,” she insisted.

“That sounds like fun.” I stood up, preparing to make my exit while I could. “We have each other's email addresses. We'll figure something out.”

“If your lady friend is out of town, are you sure she would not mind...”

I cut Dr. Castillo off with a friendly smile. “She's understanding but not that understanding.”

Dr. Castillo laughed as we shook hands. “More for me then!” Ms. Romero insisted I kiss her on the cheek and responded in kind without mischief. I thanked them again for the money as well as the offers of a physical nature. As if a switch had been flipped, Ms. Romero went back into sultry mode. “If you two were to break up, you know where I can be found.”

It is nice to be wanted.

That...That I Was Not Expecting

Have you even been told a story where someone was falling asleep, was shocked by some event, and was left wide awake? Or perhaps someone that was very, very drunk who is surprised by some piece of news and they sober up on the spot? It doesn't seem credible but it happens.

When I heard Dr. Castillo call out, the hormones disappeared from my bloodstream in the speed of the snapping of fingers. I went from a haze of hormones to a plethora of panic. The lady squirming about me was something to be removed with haste, like a leech. Despite the energy I abounded with at that moment, Ms. Romero managed to prevent me from escaping. If I was the bucking bronco, Ms. Romero was the cowgirl out to break me, and she was winning. “Patrick?” she pondered. “What are you doing?”

“Your husband is home!” I whispered, still searching for escape.

Oddly enough, this news relaxed her. “Is that all?” For whatever reason, she began massaging my inner thigh with her knee at this point. Looking back, I think this was meant to relax me back into the 'mood' but at the time it felt like a threat.

I could hear the door open and Dr. Castillo walk into the room. My left arm was still pinned and the efforts of my right arm weren't enough, even with terror on my side. “Where are you my pet?” The footsteps grew closer. Ms. Romero's knee climbed a bit higher. I stopped squirming for the moment.

Dr. Castillo's face peered down over the side of the couch. “Oh. Hello my friend Patrick! Having fun I see. If you require a few moments yet, I can entertain myself elsewhere.”

Wait a minute. What?

Oh Dear

The door opened far too easily. If it had been stuck or locked, I could have gone for help, but it just popped open and, hesitantly, I stepped inside.

There was Ms. Romero, lounging casually on one of the couched sat before the roaring fireplace, stretched out like a cat absorbing warmth. A silk white robe covered her form but not much of it. The robe managed to be short and loose at the same time. As I entered, she looked up from her book, a smile quickly forming on her face. “Patrick!” Quickly she sat up; the motion briefly opening the robe to reveal quite a lot and yet not as much as it might have done. It did make clear that she was without a supporting undergarment. This, I knew, was trouble. She patted the couch next to her. “Sit here.”

I approached slowly, like a young child meeting a mascot, like Greg the Goat, for the first time, scared of the concept of a giant personification of an animal standing before them. Shuffling my feet, I chose to sit on the other couch, directly opposite her. “Spoil sport.” She tucked a lock of long dark hair behind her ear. “Now then, you are here to collect the donation, is that not so?”

Rather than chance misinterpreting her different diction, I simply responded with “I am here for the check, yes.”

Ms. Romero smiled warmly. “If that is the case, then I should give it to you.” She reached inside her robe, once again revealing a bit more of herself than might have been necessary, and from there produced a check, leaning over to hand it to me in a manner that readily displayed her free flying cleavage.

I would like to say that I calmly retrieved the check and coolly departed but would be unlikely, wouldn't it? Whether she was married or not, she was putting on quite a show for me and I was unable to prevent my eyes from straying too far from her bosomy display. As expected, it was a top notch display.

My hand shook slightly as I reached out to accept the check. She handed it over without issue; no playful tug of war or attempts to gain some physical attention from me in exchange for handing it over. I had the check, she returned to her couch, all was well. I glanced briefly at the check to insure that it was made out correctly and that it wasn't made out to me for a hug and a kiss. There were a lot of zeros.

I relaxed. Standing to place the check in my wallet, I began to give me speech. “On behalf of the University, may I express our gratitude for your contribution. Your desire to assist us in our endeavor to educate is surely noble, as well as being tax deductible. We will strive to use these fund effectively and efficiently. Thank you.” Ms. Romero also stood, watching me intently as I spoke, making me politely uncomfortable.

When I stopped, she spoke. “You are very welcome. Does that complete your speech?” I nodded.”The check is safely in your wallet, which has been returned to your pocket?” I agreed that this was the case. “Then our business is complete, is it not?” It seemed that she had summed up the situation very well. “Excellent. It is not right to mix business with pleasure.”

It took me a moment to realize what occurred next. Once again cat-like, Ms. Romero pounced upon me, knocking me down to the couch. Stunned by the impact, not only of her person but of the couch, I provided little resistance as she curled up atop me and began playing with my ear and neck area, presumably recalling the reaction she previously received when doing so. Flat on my back, pinned beneath her firm silky form, I found my limited resistance fading. This proved to be a very cozy position to be in. There were still parts of my consciousness that fought to resist, pointing out the wrongness of fooling about with a married woman, noting all the negative consequences of such an action, as well as how horrible I'd feel telling Sarah Jean about it. Yet I did not resist. Hormones are powerful things and she had finally triggered them beyond my ability to reject their opinion.

My left arm was trapped in the couch but my right was free. Did I do something with that freedom to further release myself? It was too late for that. My right arm raised up and began massaging the small of her back. At this, she stopped nuzzling my neck in order to look at me or, more accurately, she gave me The Look. The Zone was open again and she moved in to successfully close it.

In the midst of this haze of fascination and joy, my ears demanded attention. Footsteps. “I am returned my dear!” Dr. Castillo!