Never Too Late to Play: Awakening 2

Chapter 2

Garrett dropped them off at their hotel and left them to check in. He’d offered to let them sleep in his room while he slept on the couch, but they offered to stay at the Marriott around the corner instead. He had a roommate, who was a nice enough guy, but Julianna and Stephen were long past that kind of life.

Besides, Julianna always loved staying in hotels. Not only were they so clean, but she didn’t need to do the cleaning. Stephen was great, but house chores weren’t his strong suit. She could count the number of times that he’d made the bed on one hand. Here, someone else took care of that.

And the dusting.

And the vacuuming.

And cleaning the bathroom.

She turned, ready to say something about that to Stephen when she found him standing at the door, lost in thought. Her stomach dropped. He was jealous, and she’d made him jealous. Heat built beneath her blouse, the same heat she’d felt when Stephen emerged into the terminal and Anthony made one last play for her.

“Give me a call when you’re free at night,” Anthony had said.

“I’m visiting my son.” 

She knew it wasn’t the protest she should have made. I’m married or my husband is right behind us would have been more appropriate. But she liked the idea that Anthony thought she was free. There was something exciting in the secret that she didn’t understand, and now made her feel sickeningly guilty.

“I’m guessing your son isn’t out of his early twenties, and a woman like you isn’t going to crash on his couch. You’re at a hotel.” He had her so well pegged. “So if you’re looking for someone to keep you company at night, here’s my card.”

God, just remembering those last moments had her uncomfortably warm.

“Stephen?” she asked. “Everything okay?”

“Hmm?” He seemed to snap out of whatever was going on in his head. “Oh, yeah.”

He wasn’t telling the full truth, she knew, and that didn’t help her manage her guilt at all. She took a deep breath. She’d learned in the past that the best way to deal with these things, though, was to not let them fester.

“I’m sorry about Anthony.” Saying his name made it feel real. Her insides squirmed.

“His name was Anthony.” Stephen sounded wooden.

“Yeah, Anthony.” She wrung her hands, twisting her engagement ring around her fingers. “I told him that I was married, but…”

“He’s not the kind of man who’s bothered by that.” Stephen’s voice sounded odd as he said it. His smile was forced. “It’s okay. Not your fault.” The grin was less forced, as was the way his eyes tracked her body. “I can’t blame him. You’re so sexy, Julianna.”

It came out in a rush, almost as if he were embarrassed to admit it. That’s what she loved so much about Stephen—she loved how genuine he was. She wanted to hold him, so she did, pulling him close.

“I love you, honey,” she whispered. “I should have stayed back in coach with you.”

Stephen shook his head. “I… I’m glad you didn’t.” The forced smile was back. “You… you deserve it.”

She knew Stephen, knew all about his insecurities. He was one of those silly men who thought that she was out of his league, as if life and love were structured like sports. She couldn’t imagine any other man at her side, through all of the years, through starting her career and raising Garrett and whatever fun times came next.

But no matter what she said, she could never seem to get through to him. If talk didn’t do it, then maybe he needed something more physical.

Kissing a man that you’d known for decades came in all flavors. There were friendly kisses, goodnight pecks, I love you smooches in passing. And then there were kisses that started as one of those and grew into more. Standing there in the threshold of the hotel room was one such kiss.

It was Stephen who initiated, pushing his tongue into her mouth as his hands encircled her waist. It was Stephen who guided her across the room, to the bed, tugging at her clothes like they were back in their twenties.

With her blouse off, Stephen reached behind her back and easily twisted open her bra, freeing the girls. He practically growled as he took her nipple into his mouth, sucking on the hard nub. She moaned, reveling in the wet sensation, the way he teased her with his tongue exactly the way she liked.

She’d had her breasts augmented about ten years ago, when she was feeling down on herself and her entry into middle aged life. It wasn’t an easy decision. She’d always been a champion of natural remedies, hard work, exercise, diet, but that only helped so much. Stephen had been supportive, and now, while it wasn’t a decision for every woman, she was happy that she’d done it.

She was perched on the edge of the bed as Stephen slid to his knees, kissing down between her breasts and across her tummy. She always felt self-conscious about that. She’d worked hard to keep it flat, but she wasn’t twenty anymore.

“You’re so sexy,” he said, staring up at her as he took hold of her leggings, staring up at her through the valley of her breasts. “So, so sexy…”

Stephen was a handsome man. Rather than fight his receding hairline, he decided to shave his head completely and grow a salt-and-pepper goatee. She liked the change, making him look tougher and edgier than his younger years. It was his eyes, though, that she always loved, blue, kind, thoughtful. Now they swam with adoration.

That adoration followed her as he dragged her leggings and panties off and sank between her legs. She shivered in anticipation. Her husband knew how to go down on her and make her head spin, and the years of intimacy had only honed that art to perfection. 

“Oh, yes!” she cried, rocking back onto the bed. She lifted her knees, enclosing Stephen’s face in her thighs as he swirled his tongue about her clit. And that was before he introduced his fingers, which she knew would come in three, two, one—

“YES!”

So good. Like opening the doors on a sunshine filled meadow after a long winter. All the tension of the flight, of the flirtation, or her guilt, fluttered away with that exalted breath. She rolled her hips up, bucking her pussy against Stephen’s face as she tightened her fingers along his bare scalp.

He knew the score. He didn’t stop licking, lapping, fingering. Not until she had too much. Not until she couldn’t take it anymore. If anything, her orgasm spurred him on. He shook his head and gnashed between her thighs, and the higher her orgasm climbed.

When she finally came back down to earth, releasing him from her thighs, she looked down and couldn’t help but laugh. He was red with exertion, from his cheeks to the top of his shaved head. He huffed air like a swimmer finally breaking the surface after a long dive.

“You okay?” she giggled.

“Never better.” He ran his tongue up her slit. She shuddered, pushing him away with a foot on his face.

“Too much!”

“I just can’t get enough of this body.” He climbed up over her, kicking off his pants. 

She reached between them, grabbing his cock. She shot him a look. “You’re really hard.”

“I like hearing you come,” he said. There was more to it than that, but she didn’t press. Now wasn’t the time.

“Good, because I like it when you make me come.” She guided him to her, opening her legs around his hips as he pressed home. He really was hard, steely and long, almost like another man.

Julianna shivered. No, not going to go there. This moment was about the two of them. This moment was a time for them to connect in a strange new place, and have strange, new experiences.

She focused on the feel of him, the smell of him, the way he moaned and gasped with each thrust. She held him against her, savoring the slippery friction of his body over hers. She loved the weight of him. She loved everything about him.

“Julie… Jules… ha, haaa…”

“That’s it, baby. Fuck me.” Her voice was a breathy whisper. She wasn’t much for dirty talk—not because she was too modest, more like it made her feel silly. But she knew Stephen liked it, and could feel him grow even harder as she teased for him. “Fuck me with your big, hard dick.”

“Ohhh.” It was enough. “Oh, I’m…” The rest was lost in a groan. 

She squeezed him as he came, milking him of all that slippery heat. She didn’t come herself, but she was okay with that. She’d already had her release, and feeling him climax was satisfying enough. She savored the connection, pulling him close, squeezing him tightly.

“I love you,” she said.

He pulled up enough to look down at her, brushing her hair from her face. “I love you, too, Jules.” For a moment, it looked as if he was going to say more, but then he pushed himself off of her and went to the bathroom. 

She watched him go, enjoying his naked backside.  Now pushing sixty, he’d thickened a little around the middle, and his butt wasn’t the cute tush that it once was, but neither was hers. She thought of her friends’ husbands, all of whom had let themselves go as they progressed through middle age. She made sure that he ate well to keep most of the pounds off, and he went to the gym with regularity. She would have recommended a better cardio to weight training ratio, but was sensitive to his insecurities. She also just liked muscles.

She slipped beneath the sheets, enjoying the feeling of clean linen against her naked skin. Why was it that hotel sheets felt so much better? Stephen came back from the bathroom with a wad of tissues—their usual routine after sex to keep the bed clean. 

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “We can just have housekeeping switch them out when we meet Garrett for dinner.”

Stephen smiled, sliding under the sheets at her side. “We should probably get ready to meet back up with him.”

“Probably.” But all she did was snuggle closer to her husband. Even with an empty nest, moments of quiet connection like this in the middle of the day were rare.

They lay there, listening to the background hum of the air conditioner until Julianna was almost asleep, then…

“If you were single, would you have called that guy?”

That guy… “Anthony?”

She felt him tense up beside him. “Yeah.”

He really had been bothered by that. Shoot. “No, I don’t think so.”

“But you’d think about it.”

She couldn’t read his tone, so she tread lightly. “I honestly don’t know what I’d be like if I wasn’t married to you. Probably a very different person.”

“But maybe one who’d go out with a guy like Anthony?”

She heard the downward spiral that he was on. “I love you, Stephen. I can't imagine a life where you’re not by my side. Guys like Anthony don’t make great partners. They’re in it for one thing. A woman like me needs more than that.”

“You deserve more—”

“You always talk about me like I’m entitled to this and that. I don’t deserve anything, and Stephen, I’m so lucky to have you in my life. Look at all that we’ve done. We have an amazing son, a great life, friends back home, money to travel. And we just had a lot of fun. How many couples can say that after 30 years?”

“But didn’t you say you needed more?” He was stuck on her first statement.

“More than what the Anthony’s of the world offer. And besides, need is different than what is owed. All I really deserve is some respect, of course, and…” She twisted his nipple playfully. “…for you to believe me when I say that there’s no one I’d rather spend my life with than you.”

Stephen conceded with a smile. “Thank you.” He kissed her softly. “Sorry I get like that. I believe you.”

“Come on, let’s get dressed and call Garrett.”

Chapter 3

“You broke up with Helena? What happened?” Julianna sounded shocked. Stephen felt it less so as he watched his son gather his thoughts.

They were sitting on the outdoor patio, having dinner as the sun set in the distance. It was warm and pleasant out here. He could see himself retiring in a climate like this one day. Julianna looked relaxed, wearing a loose, white blouse, her shades pushed up into her russet hair—turned a reddish hue in the setting sun.

“She… I…” Garrett looked flustered under his mother’s gaze. “I caught her cheating on me.”

“What? Helena?” Garrett and his girlfriend, Helena, had been going out since sophomore year of college. She’d come to their last two Christmases. She was a wonderful girl, and Julianna had already begun to think of her as a daughter-in-law.

“Yeah.”

Stephen stepped in. “I’m sorry, Garrett. That’s hard.”

Julianna actually got up and hugged him, and for a moment, Stephen was transported back in time, to when Garrett was seven and had scraped his knee running along the sidewalk. He was older now, but still their little boy.

Later that evening, after dinner had been settled and Julianna and Stephen were back at their hotel room, lying in bed, Julianna brought it up again. “I don’t understand people sometimes.”

“Hm?”

“Cheating, I mean.”

“Oh, you mean with Helana?”

“Yeah, but also… Lori. I didn’t tell you, but she and Luke are getting divorced.”

Lori and Luke were two of their close friends, going way back, although clearly Stephen had lost touch of late. “No…” That was more shocking than hearing about Garrett’s girlfriend. His son was young, and Stephen had never been under the impression that things were permanent. But Lori and Luke had been married almost as long as he and Julianna. “They always seemed good.”

“I know!”

“What happened?” Stephen reeled as he thought about Luke and Lori and their three kids—two of whom were still in high school. He thought of their expensive home, their cars, all the things that they’d accumulated over the years and now would have to split up.

“Luke caught her fooling around with their neighbor. Apparently he came home early for lunch one day because he forgot something and found them going at it in the den.”

As she filled Stephen in on the details and he laid there listening, he felt the way he always did when he heard stuff like this—not righteous disgust at the cheater, but rather how absurd the whole thing was. Absurd that Lori would throw her life away for some sex, but also absurd that Luke would as well.

If he had walked in on Julianna with the neighbor, he couldn’t ever imagine throwing everything they had away. He just couldn’t. And deep down, confusingly, uncomfortably, the idea of walking in on Julianna with another man had his gut squirming in a not entirely unpleasant way.

He always kept these thoughts to himself, worried that it sounded like he was taking the cheater’s side. He wasn’t. Not at all. And he’d never, ever cheat. And as for the other thing—the illicit thrill that came with the thought—he didn’t even want to acknowledge whatever that was.

“...knew that their sex life wasn’t great, but it’s no excuse,” Julianna finished.

“If you did that—”

“I’d never,” she cut him off, turning to snuggle closer. “Besides, we have a pretty good sex life.”

Pretty good. Not great. He heard it, but let it go. Or maybe not. Maybe it helped him say the next thing.

“I know, but if you did, I’d never divorce you for it.”

This statement silenced her. He stared up at the ceiling, too afraid to look at his wife, yet knowing her eyes were boring into him.

“I mean, I love you, and I know you love me. And if you did want to fuck the neighbor, you could tell me. We could talk.” Stephen’s heart was racing. He couldn’t believe he’d actually confessed that, and tensed as he awaited the backlash. When it didn’t come, when only silence greeted him, he added, “I’d rather talk it over than throwing everything we have away.”

When he finally looked at Julianna, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Her face was a beautiful mask, a slight furrow in her brow, the makings of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

He said, “It just seems… dumb…” Just like he was feeling now as he finally said his theory outloud.

“Oh, Stephen,” was all she said. And then she started kissing him. Kissing led to more, led to her pushing him onto his back and mounting him. He was hard, just as he was always hard when thinking about this stuff. “I will never do something like that.” The conviction behind her voice was palpable. “Ever.”

As she said it, he realized that it actually wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He didn’t need reassurances. He never doubted her fidelity. But he also didn’t want her to deny her desires. He knew that she enjoyed the attention from men like the guy on the plane. He wished she was comfortable talking about that.

She rubbed his cock along her pussy. She wasn’t dripping wet, but after a little friction, she welcomed him inside of her.

That was as far as the conversation went that night. As soon as he sank into her, he knew that talk of cheating and his progressive ideology on sex and marriage was over. Even still, he went to bed with a weight off of his shoulders. It was out there now, and even if Julianna didn’t bring it up again that night, he knew she wouldn’t forget it. 

That’s how Julianna was. She enjoyed turning things over and over. She liked to contemplate. There was no taking it back now. Que sera, sera, he always believed. With Julianna, with their life, he never wanted anyone to have regrets.

***

Julianna did not know what to make of Stephen’s idea, but it worried her. It had sounded like something he’d been thinking about a lot, a theory that he’d been refining. 

‘If you did…’ cheat… ‘I’d never divorce you for it…’

If he expected her to reciprocate, he’d be waiting a long time. She didn’t think of herself as a jealous person, but she wasn’t immune from the feeling. Stephen was an amazing man. She knew what she had, and knew more than a few women who wanted it.

But is that what he was hinting at? He seemed so nervous, almost like a confession. What did he mean when he said, ‘I’d rather talk it over than throw everything we have away.’

Was he trying to talk about it that night? Had he met someone else? The question alone made her sick to her stomach. After thirty years of marriage, she’d started taking Stephen for granted. Just like Luke had. There must have been signs that Lori was straying, but Luke had been too preoccupied with life to see them. Was this Stephen’s sign?

Seeing their son was a reminder of the life that they had, and seeing Stephen laughing at one of Garrett’s stories transported her back through the years—to Garrett as a teen, as a pre-teen, as a boy, as a toddler. In every scene, Stephen was there, experiencing life right along with her.

It had been hard to find time for intimacy with Garrett in the house. It took work, and some years were better than others. When Garrett grew up and started to lead a life of his own, they’d worked to regain that closeness. This trip was a reminder that everything was always just a work in progress.

And what better way to start working on it than the present time?