Chapter 1

It's funny how one single, isolated event can be the beginning of such heartache. Fate is a funny player in the lives of common, ordinary folk. That single event occurred on a Friday, at about 1:00 p.m in the lobby of the downtown Marriott.

Jack Bell had enjoyed a light lunch and was coming out of the men's room when he saw Karen, his wife of 24 years, moving into the dining room on the arm of a strange man. He wasn't too concerned at first for he knew that in her job as a public relations professional, she came into contact with a wide array of individuals

His first inclination was to quickly approach them, and greet her, but her behavior caused him to hesitate and then to stop. She was clinging to this guy's arm tightly and had her head almost on his shoulder. He could see that she was in animated conversation with him as they walked to their table.

Jack experienced a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, but then shook his head and smiled at his uneasiness. He became a bit ashamed of his suspicions and realized that Karen had never given him any reason to suspect her fidelity in all of the years of their marriage. He was sure that this was another client she was wooing for her firm, although he did look vaguely familiar.

He gazed at her as they sat down at their table. "Damn," he thought. "At 46 years old she still looked fantastic."

Karen was a vision. At 5' 6" and 130 pounds she looked ten years younger. She worked out regularly and her body was toned and tight. Jack considered himself to be a lucky man. He was content. A successful accounting business, a beautiful wife and two great kids now on their own and doing well. He shook his head and proceeded out of the hotel. What did have to worry about. What indeed...

That evening Jack arrived home a bit earlier than was usual. Karen usually beat him by a few minutes. He mounted the stairs to their bedroom and began changing out of his suit, hanging the trousers and jacket carefully on a hanger. He heard the front door open and then, "Jack, where are you?"

Seconds later Karen appeared in the doorway. She appeared flushed and a second later plastered herself against him, kissing him passionately. Jack was stunned and a bit taken aback. This was something new.

He tried to speak, but her lips were demanding and her hands were trying to strip him of the only clothing he had on, which was his boxers. Her hand quickly found his cock, which was still flaccid. She quickly knelt and took his member into her mouth. Jack watched her, dumbfounded. "Who is this woman?," he thought. Then rational thought vanished as he succumbed to her ministrations. His cock grew and he was soon fully erect. He pulled Karen up and as he did she quickly shed her clothing and pulled him to their bed.

"Jack, I need to be fucked, I really need to be fucked, but first I want your mouth on my pussy. Now Jack, now, now," she muttered as she moved his face down into her sopping wet sex.

She quickly orgasmed and then pulled him up and quickly changing positions, mounted him and thrust herself upon his cock. Her face contorted as sweat flew from her brow and her breasts. Jack knew he wouldn't be able to last long, and thankfully, as he came so did she. She keened a shrill wail and collapsed upon him.

Jack held her tenderly and, gazing into her eyes said, "I'm not complaining, you understand, honey, but what brought this on? I just want to know so that I can make sure that it happens again soon," he smiled.

She didn't answer him, she just clung to him tightly and said softly, "I just love you Jack, I love you with all my heart."

That evening, after dinner, Jack and Karen settled themselves in the living room, Jack with the evening paper and Karen with her inevitable needlepoint. The evening news was on the television and he alternated watching while reading the paper.

Jack casually glanced at Karen and asked, "How was your day, dear?"

"Same as always, honey. I had to catch up on some paperwork in the office so it was kind of a boring day, but thankfully I did get a lot done."

Seemingly engrossed in the paper, Jack casually asked, "Did you eat lunch out?" He had her in sight out of the corner of his eye, awaiting her answer and he had it in a flash. She had tensed and looked quickly up at him.

"No," she lied. "We had sandwiches delivered in. It seemed too much of a hassle to run out today. Why do you ask?" She was now glancing at him with a questioning look in her eyes.

Jack continued to flip pages in the paper and replied, "I happened to be in town, seeing a client today. I finished with him early and was going to give you a call asking if you would like to join me for lunch, but you weren't at your desk so I figured you were busy. I grabbed a quick bite at the Marriott."

This time he was sure that she paled visibly, but pulled herself together quickly. "Just as well, dear. I would not have been able to get away, I just had to get through all of the paperwork that had piled up for days. Perhaps we could meet next week. It would be nice to have lunch together. That's something we haven't done in quite awhile." She looked down at what she was working on and did not meet his eyes.

Jack sat there staring at the same paragraph on the Sport's Page. He felt his stomach clench and he knew that his heart beat was up in the triple digits.

"Son of a bitch, she lied, she lied. If this lunch thing was insignificant, why would she lie?" he thought. His thoughts ran from one scenario to another, without rhyme or reason. He had absolutely no idea what he should do next. Should he confront her? "No, not yet," he concluded. He really had nothing concrete. "What the hell do I do now? How can I get to the bottom of whatever is going on, IF anything is, in fact, going on?"

"Where was my life going now? What kind of future do I now have to look forward to?" He mentally kicked himself for these thoughts. "I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation for this incident and Karen will eventually let me in on it," he reasoned. "But, where did that sexual attack earlier come from. Karen never acted so aggressively. While she almost always enjoyed their sexual encounters, she always allowed him the dominant role. "Wait," he thought. Memories flooded back, back, to years ago.

His thoughts drifted to their college days. Karen had entered as a Bus. Admin. and Marketing major. He was a junior, majoring in Accounting. They had met at a student get-to-gether and spent the entire evening in rapt conversation. Their relationship developed and matured into love and they both knew that they were destined for each other. He thought back fondly to their first truly intimate encounter in the back seat of his ten year old Buick.

They had necked before, kissing and fondling each other, but because of one reason or another, had never really consummated their relationship. That night felt different; heady with the warm night air and the wine that they had consumed at the local pizza/restaurant near the campus. He had parked at the lake and there were no other vehicles in sight. They had both moved into the backseat without discussion and, he remembered, Karen had virtually attacked him with her lips and her hands.

"Jack," she moaned. "I really need you. I'm on fire tonight."

Lips meshed and tongues moved furiously. She had her blouse and bra undone in seconds. He caressed her milky breasts and then his lips found her nipples and moved slowly from one to the other. Her hand found his zipper and quickly exposed him. She clasped his cock and explored each inch of it. He gritted his teeth to prevent an early ejaculation.

They had never gone this far before and he briefly wondered why she was so aroused, but those thoughts quickly evaporated as she lifted her behind, reached under her skirt and pulled her panties down and off. The dynamic of the situation then changed dramatically. Karen took charge. She quickly pulled her skirt up to her waist, almost violently pushed his head down between her legs and into her pussy.

"Lick it, lick it, Jack. Now, now, now," she muttered softly.

Her hands tangled in his hair as she pulled him, almost violently, into the swamp between her legs. She kept her hands on his head and humped her vulva into his face, guiding him, almost forcing him to satisfy her lust. He felt himself suffocating and he pulled back a bit to catch his breath.

"No, no, no," she almost screamed. Pulling his face back into her wetness she demanded his tongue satisfy her. She seemed insatiable until she tensed, clasped her thighs even more tightly against his ears and had a shattering orgasm.

Jack was able to again pull back a bit and again catch a breath. He felt like a rag doll, but realized that he had a raging hard-on.

Suddenly Karen again pulled him up and kissed him passionately. "Put it in, Jack. Put it in NOW, NOW, NOW."

Not waiting for him, she reached down and, grasping his cock, virtually thrust him into her sopping vagina. She was so wet that he slid in without any obstruction. This was not making love, this was fucking, pure and simple, raw and primitive.

"Karen, I'm not wearing protection. I'll pull out before..."

"No," she shrieked, "NO, NO, don't pull out. Come in me, come in me" she insisted.

She tightened her legs around him and pulled him into her even closer. He couldn't take any more and with a groan he came. He felt himself spurt again and again and again. It felt as if he would never stop. Karen held him closely to her as she also slowly came down from her second intense orgasm.

Jack sat, his paper not moving, as he remembered in vivid detail the events of that evening. That was the last time that Karen acted in that manner - a wild, demanding, voracious female, until earlier that evening. Their future intimacies were wonderful, but they made love, they didn't reach the primal level of that night. He again wondered what made her react in that manner. The hours before that lustful encounter were not out of the ordinary. They had a simple dinner and then had attended a dance at the Student Union. They had been seated with a group of their friends and all had danced with members of the group during the evening.

Certain memories came filtering back from that evening. Jack remembered how fresh and youthful Karen had looked, with her long, blond hair in a ponytail. She loved dancing and would pull him on to the dance floor again and again until he begged for mercy.

She then pleaded with Jim Belson to be her partner. She would not take no for an answer and Jim, with a small smile, acceded to her wishes and partnered with her for a fast number. Jack remembered that they had stayed on the dance floor for quite awhile, during two or three slow dances. His memory was hazy, but he did remember that he had lost sight of them after awhile. He was in a deep conversation with a buddy about the merits of the local AA baseball team and had lost track of the time. He did remember Karen coming to the table, quite flushed, and insisting that they leave. That's when she was all over him in the car until he was able to park by the lake.

He had no idea what had turned her on so at that time, and now he realized that this second wild coupling, over 24 years later, was also based on no reason that he could fathom. " What was there in common with both events?," he pondered. Try as he might, he could come to no logical conclusion. He saw absolutely no link in common between that event and this one.

So engrossed was Jack in his own thoughts that he did not realize how much time had gone by. He was brought out of his musings suddenly.

Karen had risen from the sofa and said, "Honey, it's after ten o'clock. I know we're both tired and it's time for bed; especially after the workout we both enjoyed earlier."

Jack returned her smile and replied, "You go on up dear, I'll be up shortly." He watched her ascend the stairs, admiring the sway of her hips.

Jack's thoughts again returned to that evening so long ago. Was it the dancing that so turned her on? He knew that he did not have two left feet, but he also knew that he was no Fred Astaire. Another thought sprang to mind and it turned him cold.

"Nah," he thought. "Was it the dance, or rather dances, with Jim Belson?" He knew that Karen had dated Jim for awhile before they had hooked up, but there never was any indication that it was a hot romance. In fact, it appeared that Karen had broken it off rather quickly. He had never really given it much thought before. He knew that Karen was no virgin when they met, but he always figured that that was then and this is now. He also was no virgin, although he was far from a campus Romeo. They never really had any discussion about past lovers, there had never been any reason for such a discussion.

So the question still remained; there didn't seem to be any link between the wild sex in his car years ago, and Karen's attack upon him this evening. His mind drifted back to this afternoon at the hotel. The pictures of his mind repeated the scene of Karen entering the dining room on the arm of this guy. Jeez, he wished he could figure out why her escort looked so familiar

Karen sat, across from Jack, her needlepoint in her lap, but with her thoughts far from what she was doing with needle and thread. She was extremely conflicted. She had a strong suspicion that Jack was uneasy with her. His "casual" questions were anything but casual.

"Why would he ask would I did for lunch?" she thought guiltily. Jack and Karen had been together for too many years for her not to sense his uneasiness.

"He suspects something. Perhaps I should have told him the truth. Having lunch with an old friend is not something shameful. Why did I lie?" she wondered. "I have nothing to be ashamed of, so why did I lie to him? Does he know that I just lied?"

She quickly glanced up at him. He had been staring at that page of the newspaper forever. She knew that his thoughts were not on the newspaper. "He knows that I lied. What should I do? Can I just admit to him that I lied, that I did not want to tell him that I had lunch with Jim Belsen? Damn it, it was just lunch - but if it was just lunch, then why did I just lie to Jack?"

Karen had not seen or even thought of Jim Belsen since her college days. Now, out of the blue, he turns up at her company as a sales manager. He had been headhunted, accepted the offer and had started in his present position last week. She had been shocked to see him - had recognized him almost immediately. He had been striding down the hall when she came upon him.

She stopped, stunned and called out, "Jim? Jim Belsen? Is that really you?"

He stopped, turned and looked at her. His face reflected that same shock, "Oh my God, it's Karen! Karen Palmer. I don't believe it. I haven't seen you in, what? 25 years? and it doesn't look like you have changed a bit."

Karen laughed a bit nervously and replied, "It's Karen Bell, Jim. I've been married since graduating from college and I have two grown children, so don't tell me that I haven't changed." She had to smile at his discomfort.

"I'm sorry, Karen. I'm just a little stunned. I certainly didn't expect to see you here, and I do remember that you married - Jack, isn't it? And if you have changed, it is certainly not for the worse, you look terrific," he said softly.

Karen actually blushed, something that she didn't remember doing for some years. They spent a few minutes chatting and then promised each other that they would have lunch later in the week and catch up with each other's lives.

Karen sat at her desk, her face flushed. She felt her heart beating rapidly and she took a deep breath. She knew that she had to calm down. She also knew, almost subconsciously, what was again happening to her. Why now?

"Damn, damn. Why now? Was her life going to be impacted by that cruel, fickle finger of fate?" she worried.

She recognized why she was so flushed. She also realized that her nipples had hardened and that the crotch of her panties was moist. She quickly arose and walked purposefully to the ladies room where she washed her face in cold water and redid her makeup. She knew that she had to get hold of herself.

"Damn it, I'm 46 years old, not 18. I can't believe that he can still make me feel this way. He hadn't really changed all that much. A little gray in his dark hair, and perhaps a few more pounds, but he still looked good, damned good, and that small smile - just like years ago. This is dangerous, I have to exercise some self-control," she thought to herself.

"He is going to be working here and I'm going to see him daily. I have to steel myself. No way am I going to jeopardize my marriage and my future," she told herself grimly.

Yet, when he asked her to lunch the next day, she accepted with no hesitation.

Karen again glanced up at Jack. The newspaper lay in his lap and his eyes were fixed on the tv. "Is he actually watching that slop on the boob tube?" she wondered, "or were his thoughts elsewhere. Damn, it was just lunch, nothing more," she told herself again. But, being honest with herself, she knew that she had been deeply aroused and was not able to concentrate on her work that afternoon. She had to visit the ladies room, where in the privacy of a closed stall, she lowered her panties and used her fingers to bring herself to a quick orgasm. She felt horribly embarrassed, this is something that she hadn't done in decades.

She rushed out of the office at quitting time and broke a few speed laws in her efforts to get home as quickly as she could. She saw Jack's car in the driveway and breathed a sigh of relief. Rushing into the house she called to him and literally attacked him. She needed him to make love to her - no, not make love - she needed him to fuck her and she made that need known in no uncertain terms. Their coupling did not take long, they were both too keyed up. Lying together after, she had tears in her eyes and she prayed that her love for her husband would protect her from the fire generated in her loins by Jim Belsen.