Seducing Sara

Four flutes of champagne met with an audible ring that lasted until the group had leaned back into their wicker patio chairs. Ahead of them, the blue haze flushed pink and gold with the setting sun. A soft breeze was already cooling their faces after the day’s activity.

Sara and Tom’s eyes met with a warm smile as they each took a sip. Tom was the boss of her boyfriend, James, and he and his wife Melanie were visibly older than the pair. At 25, she’d place them somewhere in the 30s-40s overlap, with her possibly being a little younger. James wasn’t much more her senior at 29, and it had been daunting for both of them for his superior at work to invite them for, as they put it, a “get to know you” day. James had jokingly referred to it as “team building” at the start of their long hike through the hills, which Tom and Melanie had been quick to shut down. “We like you”, Tom had said. “You feel like friends.”

As the laughter and chatter carried on, Sara and James were feeling the friendship, too. It had been an amazing hike; sweaty and sun-beaten, with twists and turns and sightings of birds of prey. There had been a moment when Sara and Tom had been getting better acquainted, and their lovers had disappeared from view up ahead, putting Sara on guard. But Tom, all six broad feet of him, had shown nothing but gentlemanly warmth.

Back home, it was showers, and then out of the hiking shorts and t-shirts, and into the evening wear they’d been advised to bring. Tom and James looked handsome as ever in their button-down linens, their hair similar hues of soft brown, James’ slightly messy, Tom’s trim and proper. “Mel, your dress is fantastic” – somehow it felt safe for James to pass this kind of comment. It was fantastic — a brilliant orange midi, her curves blatant as the breeze plastered it to her figure. “That’s okay to say, right?” He looked suddenly nervous, and the group shared a collective giggle. “Of course”, Melanie grinned. “You two are looking gorgeous yourselves. You landed such a little hottie, James.”

Sara giggled into her champagne and straightened up in her seat for a moment to model the dusk-blue sundress she’d chosen, her figure svelte next to Melanie’s curvature, her black fluffy bob almost sensible beside that free, flowing golden hair. Sara stood at a lean 5’5, her breasts small enough that she could forego a bra when dressing up, and the beautiful creases of her shoulders and upper back went uninterrupted in the fading light. But another breeze blew Melanie’s dress against her body, making it very apparent that she had gone without underwear for the evening, those ripe breasts falling lazily outward as she eased back against the wicker. Sara looked at James, already knowing where his gaze would have gone.

“Yeah, I guess so” James grinned. “You guess so?” Melanie balked. “It was the first thing Tom said to me when we came to pick you up. We’ve both got a little crush on your girl.” The four shared an embarrassed laugh again, but through the laughter, Tom and Sara’s eyes met once more. Not even James had looked at her like that before, and she shrank a little, wondering what was in his head, if it had been a mistake to show herself off like that.

The chatter continued to the bottom of the bottle, and Tom invited James inside to select a dram from his single malt collection. As they both savoured the fumes, Tom took a moment to revisit their earlier candour.

“She really is gorgeous, man. You’ve done so well, there.” James blushed and took another little pull of whisky. “Thanks… I think.” They both chuckled a little. “Yeah, Melanie’s beautiful as well. How long have you two been together?”

“Ten years this June. You?”

“Three. You got us beat. We’re very happy still.”

“Is it all still… exciting?”

James laughed, again. “I think I know what you mean… um. Is it okay if I don’t answer that? I mean, yeah, we’re very happy, but you know…”

“Sure, I get it” Tom smirked. “Uh, but… Melanie might be asking Sara similar questions right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she’s… sometimes when we meet the right people, we like to, you know, invite them in.”

James stared into his glass, stunned. He was protective of Sara to a fault. He had been a pillar of support through her experience of being harassed at work. They were just starting to move past it, and here she was being objectified and lusted after by his own seniors.

“You’re not into it?”

“No, I don’t think I am.” James mumbled. “Sorry. Is that gonna… ruin your whole evening?”

“No, no, not at all” Tom said. “I’m sorry to put you on the spot. I’m sure Sara feels the same as you. Is it okay if we draw a line under it? Just forget about it?”

“…Sure”. James allowed his glass to be topped up, suddenly eager to get back outside and put the brakes on whatever parallel discourse Melanie and Sara were having.

And on the patio, there was another uncomfortable silence waiting, Sara staring nervously into her glass, Melanie wearing a faded smile. Tom gave her a shake of the head as he came through the double doors, and James and Melanie fell immediately into a protective hand-hold.

“It’s a no, huh?” Melanie wore a slightly disappointed smile. “That’s okay, guys, we get it. We still had a lovely day with you, and we really want this evening to be nice for all of us.”

Sara relaxed her shoulders a little. “It’s okay, we both get it, I’m sure, it’s just not something we’ve ever talked about… I don’t think we could do something like that spontaneously.” She paused. “Not that you’re both anything other than lovely, I’m sure… we could do worse”.

Tom raised his glass curtly. “Cheers to that.”

The young lovers squeezed hands, feeling already more at ease again as their hosts took the pressure off. James nervously offered a follow-up. “How often do you do things like that?”

“Um… not as often as we’d like” Melanie answered, with Tom nodding slowly. “It’s about finding the time, and the right people, the chemistry…”

“It’s been about a year” said Tom, matter-of-factly. “We used to get together with another married couple about the same age as us quite regularly, but they moved away.”

Sara took another pull from her glass, and glanced her eyes over their hosts’ bodies again. Each of them bigger, taller, older; more confident and powerful. It was daunting, what they must have had in mind for the two of them. “What do you like about it? I mean, everyone’s thought about it…” she glanced at James, realising what she’d just said. “Right?” “Oh… I mean, yeah” he shot her a look of surprise. “But like, there’s that, and there’s the reality…”

“OK, so…” Melanie paused, thoughtfully, grinning a little at the nervous curiosity on display. “What I like is… new people, new bodies… I like to see this guy enjoying some beautiful other woman…” “I like seeing people enjoy her” Tom interjected. “There’s nothing like the feeling of being immersed in someone else’s lover while watching theirs revel in yours.”

Sara shifted in her chair just a little, the image flashing through her mind for a moment. She looked at Tom again. He was twice James’s size. She was so conscious of the bareness of her shoulders. Tom still had that look in his eye.

James nodded a little. “I just don’t know if I could handle the jealousy. I get very protective of Sara.” “I used to feel that way too” said Tom, “and then I found out that… okay, I’m not saying this to try and persuade you of anything, but for me, that feeling is part of the thrill.”

“Like it feels wrong, but you’re letting it happen anyway?” Sara met Tom’s eyes again, and held his gaze. “Exactly. Knowing you could stop it at any time, and you’re choosing not to.” She shifted in her seat a little more, not leaving his gaze, and so conscious that James was looking at her with his typical guarded nervousness.

Melanie gave Tom a knowing smirk. “Guys, I’ll tell you what, I’m going to make a suggestion, and if you don’t like it, we can lay this subject to rest and play Scrabble or something, deal?”

“O…kay” James said, sensing quiet agreement from Sara.

“I’d love to just kiss my husband for a while. I’d like to invite you two to see that. You don’t have to do anything, if you want to kiss each other, you go for it, but I’d love to just let you watch us make out for a little bit. Sound fun?”

“What do you think?” James squeezed his girlfriend’s hand.

“I don’t… mind” Sara said, quietly. “It couldn’t hurt to just watch.”

“OK, sure, you do your thing.”

“We’ll go inside” Melanie took her husband’s hand and walked through the patio doors to the sofa. “You can leave those open, the breeze is nice.”

As James and Sara took their seat on the adjoining sofa, the hosts were already embraced, looking into one another’s eyes with loving smiles, their lips meeting in tender, gentle kisses. Tom held his wife at the waist, his fingers brushing the small of her back while she cradled his jaw. The look of adoration between them permeated every kiss. The young lovers held hands and took in the energy of the scene before them, lips and tongues connecting with soft, sensual wetness, their bodies stirring in one another’s arms. It was a display of unrestrained affection. James tried to control his breathing, but among the sound of smacking lips and Melanie’s teasing moans, he could clearly hear the sound of Sara drawing air in long, deep breaths.

Melanie’s palm slid down Tom’s chest, finding his groin. Kissing him more urgently, more hungrily, hunching at the shoulders, she caressed it up and down, probing its mass through his trousers. She turned back to their guests and offered an obscene smile. “I can’t keep my hands off him, sorry.”

“That’s okay” Sara returned the smile, instinctively. It’s very hard not to smile back, when someone smiles at you.

“He’s so fucking hard.”

“Well… of course he is.” Neither James nor Sara was ready to admit it, but arousal had taken hold.

“You can come and feel how hard he is, if you want.”

Sara turned her head a little too swiftly to James, her eyes scanning his face, nervously seeking refusal. Refusal that she no longer felt inclined to give on her own behalf.