Monday morning. Susan awoke and found herself alone in bed. Michael, her husband, had gotten up very early and gone off to the airport to catch a flight for a business trip. Susan stretched across the width of the bed and thought that she was missing him already. They had been married ten years and still had sex often. She reasoned that this was because they maintained their curiosity about each other and never let things get stale and, of course, their love had endured.

They had gone to bed early the previous night and made love for a couple of hours before finally falling off to sleep. Michael always did that before he went away, saying that he wanted to put something in the bank before his absence. Susan felt that kind of sex hangover of not quite being switched on even if she had opened her eyes. She felt herself fighting really being awake and decided to lie there with a rerun of the night’s activity in her head.

Unconsciously, she reached down to her sex. She was swollen and tender. She let her fingers run back and forth remembering the feeling of Michael’s cock and mouth and fingers playing there, licking her, probing her, stimulating her, and giving Susan her first orgasm with just with his tongue and fingers. Susan wanted just to gently relive the sensations of Michael’s lips kissing her there, his tongue lapping at her and focusing on her clitoris, sending her into a dizzying climax without his cock having entered her yet.

Susan had returned the favour kissing and sucking his penis until he was impossibly erect. It made him crazy when she licked its head and underside and then his testes. He had rolled over taking her with him and lifted her tush and moved between her long legs, placing them on his shoulders. He wanted both to slow things down a little and to tease her so he rubbed his cock between her labia, from back to front and back again, not quite entering her and stimulating her button again with each pass.

Michael smiled down at her as she told him she wanted him inside her and wanted it right now. They both laughed as he lubricated himself with her moisture and slowly and deliberately moved inside her. She could feel him getting deeper, centimeter by centimeter, until he was at her core and first increased the pace and then the ferocity of his thrusts.

Susan’s arms were raised above her head and Michael’s hands covered hers. Their hips moved in unison as he felt himself surrounded by her heat, feeling it pulsing around his penis, pulling him inside even more. He knew she was close and pushed her over the edge when he felt his balls signalling his release. Spasm after spasm of semen filled her as he joined his climax with hers. It was moments but felt much longer than that. Spent, they clung to each other, each playing with the other’s sex gently as they always did afterward.

This happened twice more before they finally gave in to sleep. Now, Susan sighed deeply, remembering all of it, and realized that her pussy had made her fingers and thighs all wet. There would only be phone sex until Michael returned. Another sigh followed at that thought and an awareness that she really needed to get up and shower. It was a work day after all, but Susan knew that her sex would be sensitive all day reminding her of the night before and distracting her.

It was going to be a busy day and she had arranged to meet a girlfriend, Emily, for dinner. They had not seen each other for a while and theirs was a friendship that could not be sustained with texts, emails, and phone calls. They enjoyed each other’s company and always made each other laugh.

Emily had been Susan’s classmate in high school. They went to the same university but took different paths. Susan went to architecture school and Emily did degrees in English and was now a lecturer in the English department of the local university. Susan ran her own architecture practice with three partners. That was not the only difference between them. It was in their freshman year that Emily confessed to Susan that she was bisexual and expressed concern that this might spoil their friendship. Susan assured her that as long as she was happy who she slept with did not impact their friendship.

During those years they had shared their successes and disappointments, heady romances and broken hearts. They sometimes decided that all men are shits and that this applied to women as well from Emily’s point of view – all except Susan. Emily had been Susan’s bridesmaid at her wedding. Susan had found the love of her life, but Emily had gone through a few serious relationships without finding anything long lasting. She was single now. Susan had helped her pick up the pieces and remained a constant in Emily’s life.

The women had decided to meet at a French bistro after work. The weather had been cold and damp despite the paucity of snow that winter and both were craving a bowl of onion soup. The day passed for Susan with no major calamities so she was in good humour and looking forward to spending the evening with Emily. Susan arrived at the restaurant first and asked for a glass of wine while she waited for Emily to arrive. She was a regular, often eating dinner there with Michael. The waiter brought her a plate of pate and a basket of baguette unbidden to have with her wine.

She was looking forward to a great meal and conversation with her dear friend.

On the surface they were a little mismatched. Susan was tall and blonde and tended to wear very simply designed clothes, usually black or charcoal perhaps with some white, occasionally a little colour but never, ever prints. It seemed to be an extension of her professional restraint. Her hair was precisely cut every six weeks and she wore understated gold bracelets and earrings. Emily had a mass of dark, curly hair and was much more bohemian in her taste. She usually had a flowing silk scarf wound around her neck and wore a cacophony of colours and prints and ethnic jewellery that usually announced her arrival because of clattering bracelets. Susan had made sure to describe Emily so that she would be led to their table. Not that she could be mistaken for anyone else.

Susan sipped her wine and scanned the restaurant as she waited. She played a game with Michael sometimes, making up stories about couples at other tables, what they and their lives were like as divined from their body language and interaction. She was doing just that to entertain herself now. This led her to smile as she realized that she and Emily would look to others like an unlikely couple, if indeed they were a couple, and even unlikely friends. But Susan knew better. They had told each other in the years when they were both single that men (and women) could arrive on the scene and eventually leave, but their friendship was forever.

Emily arrived and Susan stood up to embrace her. They each stood back from the other and simultaneously said, “It is so good to see you,” and then started laughing. The time since they had seen each other melted away in that moment.

They ordered dinner and talked about work and news of mutual friends. Both were interested in politics and they could not help but discuss the primaries in the American election. They ordered a bottle of wine with their soup and another when their main courses arrived – steak frites for Susan and lamb chops for Emily. Susan noticed that Emily touched her hand a lot as they talked, but she was always more tactile with people than Susan.

They decided to forego coffee so as not to destroy the buzz from the wine and were too stuffed to have dessert. They did not want for the evening and the conversation to end. Emily lived in a condo not far away from the restaurant and suggested that they proceed there. She had purchased some art from a gallery recommended by Susan and wanted her to see the paintings in place. Or at least that was what she told Susan.

They left the bistro arm in arm and hailed a taxi. In a few minutes they were at Emily’s. The cityscape was beautiful as seen from the wrap around windows of her corner apartment. Susan had a look at the new paintings and gave Emily her seal of approval. In the meantime Emily produced a bottle of cognac that she had brought back from France.

“I was saving this to share with someone special, and that is you,” she said as she poured their drinks.

They settled down on the couch and continued talking. The cognac was giving Susan a lovely warm feeling inside and on top of the wine was certainly relaxing her. “This is so nice. I am really enjoying myself tonight,” she said.

“Who needs men?” Emily asked with a sardonic smile. She had recently broken up a relationship.

Then something entirely unexpected happened. Emily leaned over and kissed Susan. Susan responded for just a second and then pulled away.

“What are you doing?” Susan asked, a little shocked.

“I am kissing you, Susie. Do you have any idea how long I have wanted to do that?” said Emily.

All evening she had been looking at her friend with new eyes. No, that was not exactly true. She had always thought that Susan was smart and beautiful and kind and so much more as she had proven in the years they had been friends. But there had always been an undercurrent to her admiration that she had not acted upon.

Tonight, it had rekindled in her consciousness, and she was very aware of Susan’s loveliness in a decidedly sexual way. Susan seemed to be sending out a sensuous vibe that made her wonder if she should act on this feeling and now she had gone for it.

“No,” Susan responded. “It never entered my mind. But I have to admit that it felt good.”

Emily took that as a sign to go on and leaned in for another kiss. This one began softly as the first one, but quickly became more passionate with her tongue probing Susan’s mouth.

Susan was stunned silent but both did not want to stop or know what to do next.

Emily held her now and said, “Don’t worry. We’ll go slow and I’ll stop any time you tell me to. I confess that I’ve wanted you for years, but I understand that you’ve been straight all of your life and this is entirely new and unknown.”

Susan felt Emily’s hands on her as they kissed, moving over her back and then one hand going forward and caressing her breasts, feeling them through her soft cashmere sweater. Of course she was wearing a bra, but it was one made of very sheer thin fabric and unlined. Emily could feel the voluptuousness of Susan’s breasts and her nipples responding to the circles her thumb was making on them. She lifted Susan’s sweater and saw her areolae and nipples through the material of the demi-bra. The top half of Susan’s breasts were not covered at all by this flimsy garment. Emily bent over them and kissed the naked skin as her hands fondled from the underside. Susan gasped and moaned with pleasure, but Emily wanted to be sure.

“Should I stop?” she asked.

Susan was astonished, but did not want to stop. It felt too good and was unlike anything she had experienced before. This felt like an extension of the sensual mood she woke up with that morning. “Please don’t,” she said with a breathy voice that reached Emily all the way down to her sex. Susan was so turned on, and this in turn aroused Emily. This response was more than she had dared to hope for.

Susan found herself enthralled. She kissed Emily with a fervour that matched hers and began to feel and touch her too. A little gingerly because she was nervous, but she wanted to know how this would be. She realized that as a woman she knew how a woman wanted to be touched and that calmed her. Emily’s skin felt silky as her own. She knew in this moment that she was less inhibited because of the wine and cognac, but was determined that whatever happened next would be a conscious decision, not one that she would blame on having had too much to drink. That was dishonest in her view.

Conflicting thoughts raced through her mind: Michael was out of town and knew she was out for the evening. This was cheating on him, but she rationalized that it was not quite that as it was with a woman. This was not a life-long commitment. It was just for tonight. She supposed that in some corner of her psyche she had always wondered about sex with another woman. She had not experimented in university as some young women had and do, even with Emily as her best friend. At that time it was enough to be comfortable in her own skin and with her sexuality as a straight woman. Any exploring had been within the context of sex with men.

This was taking a chance with the years-long friendship she had shared with Emily, but somehow she felt that it was safer to gamble with her rather than another woman who was a stranger to her. That was as much as she could manage to rationalize in the moment. She knew that she could stop it all now, but also that she did not want to, so she responded, “Please don’t,” when Emily asked if she should stop.

Emily stood up. She took Susan by the hand and led her to her bedroom. They wordlessly undressed.

“You know that I am far from a virgin, but I have never done anything like this with a woman before,“ Susan said.

“I know,” said Emily. “It is not that strange. Just relax and let me take control – not in a BDSM way - just for tonight. I’m certain that if I lead you can follow, just like dancing. Come here to me, please, Susie.”

They stopped just for a moment to look at each other in the dim light in the bedroom. They had shared a flat and travelled together so they had seen each other before in all manner of dress and undress. Tonight, however, was a lot less innocent. The air between them was charged as they looked at each other: Susan, the Nordic-looking goddess, all blonde and creamy, and cool. And Emily, who looked like she could have been a descendent of Sophia Loren, dark and fiery.

“Here I am,” said Susan, trying not to lose her nerve.

The women embraced, getting used to how they fit together, and kissed over and over again. Their hands explored each other’s bodies. Susan reflected that this was both unknown and familiar as it was a female body. Emily let this progress slowly, wanting to avoid scaring Susan with what was happening. Kisses and gentle touches changed to more intimate ones. Emily began probing Susan’s sex after guiding Susan’s hand to hers. Their other hands moved from breasts to bottoms and everywhere else. Emily heard Susan’s tiny gasps as her fingers navigated her sex and found her clitoris. Susan was very wet now, but no more than Emily was from Susan doing the same to her and the very idea that she was actually with Susan at long last.

“It’s okay, Susie. My body is just like yours, so I probably like everything you like.”

Susan was mesmerized by all of this, nervous still, excited, curious, and turned on to the nth degree. She let Emily lead her to the bed and lay down beside her. They turned on their sides to face each other and kissed over and over again while their hands moved on each other – breasts, torso, tush and pubes. Each splayed the other’s sex with their fingers aided by the moisture that their arousal had produced. Susan was surprised that she could find Emily’s clitoris as easily as Emily found hers. The sensation of this mutual stimulation was intoxicating for both women. Their kisses bordered on ferocious and thighs were slick with female juices.

Emily moved above Susan. She started at her mouth and continued kissing and caressing down her body until she reached her pubes. She parted her legs more and began lapping up all of the moisture on her inner thighs. Susan moaned. Emily’s tongue was licking her labia, probing her and teasing her button. Michael was an afficianado of oral sex, driving Susan crazy with it, but this was not the same. Perhaps there was some innate knowledge of female intimacy that women shared, knowing just what would please the other. It was working. Emily had her on the edge of orgasm. The rhythmic thrusting of Emily’s tongue into her did it. She gasped and raised her hips slightly as if to allow that tongue to penetrate her even more as she came.

Having had the practical demonstration of girl on girl oral, Susan traded places with Emily. Emily held Susan’s head gently as she repeated the lesson, giving her an equally intense orgasm. She had always been a quick study. They then held each other as they caught their breath and allowed their heart rates to go down.

“Are you okay?” Emily asked.

“I am more than okay,” Susan responded.

“I have a toy box nearby. Would it be okay if I used a dildo on you?” Emily wanted to be sure.

“Oh, yes. I want to try,” Susan said, having no will to stop what they were doing.

Emily reached over to the box on the nightstand and produced the dildo. She placed it between Susan’s labia and slowly inserted it into her as she fondled her breasts and kissed her. Susan could feel the dildo ever deeper in her until it reached its limit. Emily was moving it deliberately, knowing how to give her the most sensation and pleasure. It was not long before she was writhing under Emily and had a second mind-blowing orgasm. This was signaled not with a soft moan, but with a sound she did not know she could produce. It was like a low growl.

After a moment Susan took the dildo from Emily and said, “I want to show you that you are a good teacher.” She proceeded to repeat what had been done to her with an equally intense orgasm for Emily.

“I never knew it could be like this,” Susan said. “I admit that some part of me has always been curious. I am glad it happened with you, Emily.”

“I knew it could be like this. I knew you could be like this,” Emily responded. This had been the culmination of years of longing.

“You know this is just for tonight. It can’t happen again. Michael is too important to me,” Susan said.

“I know that. I will treasure this memory,” Emily said. “I hope you don’t regret it. I promise it will not impact our friendship.”

“Good,” Susan responded. “I don`t want that to change.”

They stayed in bed quietly for a while holding each other. Susan then slipped away to take a shower. When she walked back into the bedroom to get dressed, she saw that Emily was asleep. She tiptoed out of the bedroom and the apartment. The concierge called a taxi for her.

When she got home, she undressed and went to bed. She wondered at the day being punctuated by sex with a man in the morning and a woman at night. There was a message from Michael on her phone. She settled into the pillows and called the love of her life back to say good night.