Carl Van Marcus - The watching husband

"My dear, the best of us have these little mishaps. Now I'd suggest you help him out of his clothes and in the morning I'll have a special breakfast drink prepared for him that will make him feel as good as new! Meanwhile, if you feel up to it and wish to continue our little talk… I'll be downstairs for another hour. Otherwise… have a good night's sleep… and I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night Sam… Thank you so much for everything… the dinner… everything…" She tried to encompass all the gratitude she felt, but the whole situation was too much for her. She had never seen Tim this way and to have such a thing happen now… And she wasn't feeling any too well herself. It wasn't that she felt ill, it's just that she was beginning to feel so strange. She couldn't quite put her finger on it… it was a way she had never felt before. As Sam closed the door behind him, she looked with dismay at her sleeping husband. Dead to the world! And a wave of resentment rose within her. Was their life together to be like this always…! Slowly she bent over to help him undress. It was hard, he was like dead weight, but finally she had gotten him under the covers. He never wore pajamas so she at least didn't have to go through getting him dressed again once he was nude.

Kate pulled the covers up over her husband, and, as she bent over she got a sudden "rush" in her head. It seemed to get everything going in her brain, and suddenly she was not only wide awake, but she had so many thoughts in her head that she wanted to get them out. She just had to talk to someone!

Downstairs in the library, Sam poured himself a brandy and soda from the well-stocked bar, glanced at his pocket watch which told him that if all went as he had planned it, Kate should be appearing in the doorway within five minutes. The mild stimulant he had given her contained a minute portion of a powerful aphrodisiac. Not enough to make her do anything she did not really want to do… just enough to make her let her guard down a little. Sam sat down in his chair facing the door. He had placed a soothing Bach prelude on the record player and its music swelled, filling the room with melodious sound. Sam did not expect to have to resort to the use of drugs after this evening. It's just that he could accomplish in one evening what it might take him several weeks to accomplish otherwise, and he was a very busy man.

He heard a rustle at the door, and from his vantage point he watched as the brass door handle turned slowly and the door opened a crack.

"Why, Kate," he said… "I'm so glad you decided to come down! This is the most peaceful part of the day for me… when the whole house is still… Come in… don't just stand there!"

Kate pushed the door open further and stepped into the room. She was still wearing the short silver dress with the low back she had been wearing earlier, but now her hair was curled softly on her shoulders the way she had left it when she was brushing it and decided she wasn't ready to go to bed yet.

"I… I just wasn't sleepy yet, somehow…" she began nervously. Her eyes already shining with the brightness of the drug's effect.

She moved over toward the chair she had been sitting in earlier but Sam, as he stood up to greet her, insisted that she join him on the sofa.

"My mind seems so full of questions to ask you…" she began, even before she had sat down, her words coming quickly. "You know we never did get to discuss the details of what you want me to do here…"

"Yes… of course… and what better time than now?" Sam rose from the sofa and went to the bar… "What will you have?"

"Oh, anything… what would you suggest…"

"Having what I'm having… a Courvoisier and soda… wonderful for the nerves!" He began to mix and pour and in a short time returned to her, holding a tall glass filled to the brim with dark honey colored brew.

Kate took the glass and sipped at it cautiously… "Oh, it is nice," she said… "I've never had that… In fact, I think I've never had so many new things as I've had tonight…!" She laughed gaily and Sam laughed with her, carefully observing her actions for further signs of reaction.

"You know…" she began, completely wired now… "I wanted to apologize to you… I mean I never would have thought that before this moment I would be saying this… but well… I'd like to tell you that I seriously misjudged you… I guess you know that…"

Sam let her rattle on, the sound of her words like music to his ears. During the course of their one-sided conversation he got up and refilled the glass that she had nervously emptied.

By this time Kate was feeling very odd. She didn't seem to have much control over what she was saying and she knew it, but knowing it didn't seem to help. Everything spinning in her head just had to get out… disconnected thoughts, bits of phrases… and now that strange feeling she had had earlier in the pit of her stomach was returning. When she looked at Sam, his handsome form was blurred, and she blinked her eyes trying to get a clearer image of him… but the blinking only helped for a few seconds… and then everything in the room, including Sam, blurred again.

"I guess I should go up to bed now…" Kate began, but made no move to go. She knew that when she got upstairs, she would be faced with Tim's snoring body taking up most of the bed… and the dismal prospect of staying awake all alone made her remain where she was.

"Oh, don't go just yet, Kate," Sam was saying… "You wanted me to explain some things about the things you'll be doing… didn't you?"

Kate blushed deep crimson… There was a sudden strange tingling down between her legs, like an itch, only a little different. "Yes, of course…" she said, shifting her weight on the sofa. "I've been talking too much, you've hardly had a moment to get a word in edgewise!"

"I like to hear you talk," Sam answered. Then he embarked upon a thorough explanation of what he would expect from her in the next few days. As he spoke, Kate tried not to fidget too much on the couch… She thought to herself that she must remember never to drink as much again as she had that evening. It did such odd things to her… She was having a hard time listening to what Sam was telling her, the pressure between her thighs was growing and making her more and more uncomfortable. "What's happening to me?" she wondered… feeling panicky as Sam inched closer to her as he continued talking. She felt a distinct attraction to him building inside her, an attraction that she had never expected to have… after all, she was a married woman… her husband was asleep upstairs… She should be leaving, going upstairs too…

Sam sensed her tensing and in order to prevent her rising, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. Kate was shocked by what was happening, but she was more shocked that she made no move to resist. Something was making her totally incapable of resisting! She could feel her breasts pressing softly against Sam's chest.

"Oh God!" she said.

"What's wrong," Sam whispered into her ear.

She couldn't manage to say anything. Little pinpoints of unwanted lust were racing through her, arousing her body in spite of her desires to the contrary. They stayed like that without moving for what seemed to be forever, as Sam squeezed her tightly to his body. She almost didn't dare to breathe for fear she would make a gesture that would make everything worse, even more explicit than her remaining unmoving in this man's arms.

Fear swelled in her throat as she felt another stab of desire penetrate down between her thighs. Tiny tears filled her eyes as she stared unseeing into Sam's velvet lapel, breathing in his strong masculine scent with quivering nostrils.

Without saying a word, Sam reached out for Kate's glass and brought it to her lips. She let herself fall limply against him and drank in desperation. Perhaps the liquor would give her courage to fight… to leave… There was no excuse for what she was doing. She couldn't do this to Tim! The brandy burned its way down her throat she drank it so fast, and she felt it speeding through her blood. It did seem to calm her some, but she still did not move from the warmth of Sam's arms. She felt oddly humiliated, something akin to the way she had felt that night in his car, only this was worse… this time she was a party to it.