"Hey, dinner was terrific! You're a wonderful cook, Tanya."
He pushed his chair back slightly from the table and it squeaked on the slick, marble floor. It had been a wonderful meal, and all the more so because he had spent it gazing dreamily at the beauty seated across from him. Tanya smiled brightly at his compliment and her cheeks flushed. He felt her bare toe touch his calf and begin sensuously stroking his leg. Her dark eyes danced as he returned her smile.
"Yeah, it wasn't too bad tonight, babe," added Bob. "You're getting better. Naturally, she'll never be the cook my mother was. Alan, have I ever told you about my mother?"
"A few times, yes," Alan offered.
Bob nodded without hearing.
"Now that woman could cook, Al. She was first generation Italian, of course. Those people start teaching their kids to cook before they can even walk! But it doesn't matter."
He reached over and patted Tanya's forearm, smiling broadly.
"I didn't marry Tanya here for her skills in the kitchen, if you know what I mean!"
Bob let loose with a loud laugh at his joke. Tanya's face turned crimson and her mouth tightened as she watched her husband laugh, but Alan wasn't noticing. He never did. The man lived his life absorbed in himself. He was chief legal counsel for his company, a powerful man used to saying whatever he pleased, whenever he wanted. He was a man used to throwing his weight around and commanding respectful silence from those who served him. He didn't notice her embarrassment, and if he had, he wouldn't have cared.
"Dessert, Mom!" exclaimed Gracie.
"Time for dessert, Mom!" Hallie joined in.
"Girls, it's already past your bedtime. You can each have a cookie and then I want you to change into your PJ's and get yourselves off to bed." The tone of her voice brooked no disagreement, and the girls moaned in quiet disappointment as they got down from the table and followed their mother's instructions.
"Before you go to bed, give your Uncle Alan a big hug and kiss goodnight," she exclaimed. They cheered and rushed him, leaping onto his lap. He swept each child up into his arms, kissing and hugging them until they giggled with delight, then sent them off to bed.
Tanya and Bob had been his neighbors for almost seven years. Alan and his wife, Maria, were childless and had adopted the family across the street as a substitute for their own. Early on they'd discovered their mutual and fierce love of games. They'd gradually established a ritual, meeting in one home or the other two or three nights a week for bridge or poker, Monopoly or Risk, anything that gave them a chance for ruthless competition over a table flowing with laughter and conversation, good food and drink. They'd all soon become the best of friends, sharing outings and vacations, movies and dinners.
Tanya was an exceptionally beautiful woman who carried a simmering sensuality wherever she went. On their first meeting, Alan had taken her hand and seen in her eyes something wild, something hot, something wanting to be aroused and possessed. She'd held his gaze, her dark eyes sparkling and teasing him, her warm fingers imprisoning his hand. His gaze had dropped to her full chest, where her nipples and the outline of a low-cut bra were plainly visible through her white, silk blouse. She was heavenly.
In the following years, they'd both flirted shamelessly, but nothing had ever come of it. They'd confided in each other and shared their marital ups and downs. But their mutual commitment to their marriage partners was unstated and understood. They were merely good friends -- nothing more.
Slowly but surely, that had changed.
Bob had been promoted to chief legal counsel, a position that had required him to travel more. Always an arrogant man, he'd grown more insufferable as he'd risen in the company hierarchy and the numbers of fawning servants employed to carry out his instructions had grown. He started working longer hours. He neglected family commitments. Before long, he began neglecting the woman he had once loved with so much passion. Tanya was hurting, and it had been Alan who had come to her rescue.
At Alan's suggestion, Tanya began phoning him at the office for advice and consolation. Her recounting of their latest fights always brought her to tears. Alan tried to console her, but his best efforts weren't enough. She was lonely. She wondered aloud if Bob had found someone else, but she couldn't bring herself to confront him. She wondered if she was still pretty, still desirable, still the woman Bob had fallen in love with.
She was all of that and more. Bob had a mistress, all right, but not one with whom Tanya could easily compete. Power had become his lover, and he found her beauty intoxicating.
And then came the unexpected blow to the head: Maria had ditched him with no intention of returning. She'd left him for a woman she had met on-line! He was crushed, destroyed, until Tanya had stepped in and helped him pick up the pieces.
After that, neither of them had seemed interested in maintaining a polite distance. Within days, they'd tumbled into each other's arms enthusiastically. She'd turned out to be every bit the tigress that he'd imagined her to be. Bob, he now knew for certain, was an idiot.
"Could you help me with the dishes, Alan?" Tanya asked.
They rose from the table together and began clearing away the dishes while Bob retreated to his home office to make some telephone calls.
As Alan stacked dishes on the counter, Tanya began running water in the sink. Bob's voice drifted into the dining room from his office, where he was having a heated conversation with someone about a legal issue of some sort. After his third trip to the dining room, Alan deposited the last load of dishes in the kitchen and came up behind Tanya, pressing his pelvis into her perfect, round ass, encircling her with his arms and squeezing her tightly. He nuzzled and kissed her neck, filling his lungs with the sweet scent of Shalimar, her favorite perfume. She moved her hands to the counter to brace herself and let him enjoy himself. She loved the feeling of his body against her own, and she was already wanting him, badly. He lifted his hands to her chest and encircled her breasts, quickly finding her delighted nipples, tweaking them through the fabric of her clothing.
