Softly

Gage was afraid.  Afraid to go to bed with his wife.  For the past two weeks or so, he’d noticed that he was having trouble getting hard.  Maybe it was the stress at work.  He was vice president of a lumber firm, and things had been really slow.  Some employees were laid off, and others, including Gage, were doing double duty.

At the end of every day, he always looked forward to home and Violet.  How he’d ever been so blest to win a woman like Vi he would never know.  Black-haired and graceful as a gazelle, with just the right bit of padding to her breasts and hips, Vi could have had her pick of handsome suitors.  Yet she chose forty-two-year-old Gage Mallinson, a quiet, gentlemanly businessman.  No wonder he drove so fast each evening.  He couldn’t wait to be with her.

Until recently.

The age difference had troubled him from the start since he was fully aware of the issues that could arise as time passed.  Vi stated from the beginning that it mattered nothing to her; she was in love with him and believed he was the man she’d prayed for.  Age was no object if character and everything else lined up.  As to having children, she was content with or without them, whatever God chose.  Gage had agreed, and the three years they’d been married were wonderful.  Now he was uneasy, fearing he’d made a mistake and trapped a lovely woman in a marriage that might not satisfy her anymore.

On this particular evening—he’d always remember it as a muggy Friday in August—he was on his way home after a very long day at his office.  Problems brought up by the company president at a meeting weighed him down.  The Chevrolet needed gas, and his head hurt.  And he was frustrated that even thinking about his luscious wife did nothing to arouse his lovemaking member.

“Lord, I don’t know what to do,” he finally spoke aloud, weakly pounding the steering wheel.  “You know I want my life to honor You, at home and at work.  All the stuff going on there is driving me a little batty, and with Vi… what if I hurt her? What if I can’t fulfill her? Father in heaven, please help me!”

A verse occurred to him just then.  “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.”  Vi had a right to know what was going on because she had a say in how he gave himself to pleasure her, just as he liked to tell her how she could pleasure him.  Buoying himself up with some hope, he pressed down a little harder on the accelerator.

Vi Mallinson was on the back patio, dressed in capris and a soft blouse, watering the big pots of majesty palms.  But she heard the muffled sound of a car door closing and knew her husband was home.  She hurried inside.

“Gage?” She met him in the living room, where he set his hat and briefcase on the couch and took her in his arms for a kiss.

“Hi, Vi.” He smiled.

“Mmm, hello.” She smiled back, eyes almost closed in the enjoyment of his kiss.  Then she opened them to look at his face.  “Darling, you’re so tired! Come sit down for a minute.  Bad day at work?”

“Well, it could have been worse, I guess,” he quipped as he plunked down on the sofa and drew her onto his lap.

“What’s up? Tell me all about it.”

“Oh, just company problems and… other things,” he sighed.

“How about a little dinner? I made a nice pasta salad since it was so hot, and we’ve got fruit, potato chips, and iced tea.”

“Sounds so good you’re killing me,” he commended.

“Good.” She started to get up.

“Vi, hang on.  There’s something I have to talk about with you.”

She cocked her head slightly, gazing at him in loving curiosity.  “Of course, baby.  Is anything wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly.  “It’s kind of… complex.”

“Whatever it is, I’m all ready to listen.  But you’re hungry and hot and stifled in that starched shirt, and your tie is choking you. I know you’d love a cool shower, so how about we eat, you clean up, and then we’ll talk leisurely?” Her rich blue eyes peered archly up into his face, and he had to smile.

“Okay,” and with another touch of his lips to hers, he pulled himself up.

They enjoyed the light summer supper, though Gage wasn’t super talkative.  His mind was busy, focused on the upcoming conversation.  Plus he was drinking in his wife’s sweet feminine voice and body.  She made sure his glass was kept full and chatted about some of the things she’d done around the house that day.  Her love for housekeeping, organization, and neatness revealed itself in the clean attractiveness of their pretty house.  What a blessing she was!  But the disturbing thought that perhaps he couldn’t physically meet her needs kept clouding his vision.

When they’d finished and Vi had put the things in the dishwasher, she took Gage’s hand.  “Come on, you handsome lumberman.  I’ll help you with your shower,” she said with a seductive batting of her eyelashes.

“There really isn’t much you need to do,” he chuckled, following her to their room.

“Oh, I’ll find something.”

She turned the shower on in the master bathroom and then disappeared while he took off his cuff links and tie and unbuttoned his shirt.  Boy, it felt good to get out of those stiff business clothes.  The air conditioning in his office broke the day before, and he’d been working in a state of uncomfortable dampness all day.  Fully nude, he stepped into the shower and turned to slide the door shut.  To his surprise, though, Vi intercepted him.  She was naked too.

“It’s been a while since we did this,” she commented, her voice a little more sensual than usual as she joined him.

“Well! I wasn’t expecting such a nice thing to happen,” he observed with a funny perking of his eyebrows.

A laugh broke from her lips, and she tenderly pressed against him.  His arms surrounded her, his hands on her back and shoulder blades.  The water fell in gentle, heavy droplets over their bodies, a warm caress after a day full of cares.  Gage watched, entranced afresh, as Vi stood directly under the shower head, eyes shut, water pouring over her face and washing away her makeup.  He liked seeing her natural charm emerge when they showered together.  Then she wiped her eyes and grinned at him.

“Your turn, mister.”  She reached up and aimed the water at his face.

With some vivacious rubbing, he washed his face and neck, Vi laughing a little.  Yet her eyes were lustrous, full of affection for her man.  Every time she had a chance to see him like this, raw and virile and bronzed, his lean body overrun with rivulets of water, she fell in love with him harder than ever.  So what if he was forty-five? He looked ten years younger and kept himself fit and healthy.  The tinges of gray in his dark steel-colored hair only made him look distinguished and mature.  And his eyes, deep and warm and thoughtful, melted her when they looked her way—which, she noticed, they were doing right now.

He said nothing, only drew her again against his body, torso to torso, thigh to thigh, and stood contentedly holding her.  She rested her head on his chest.  Under the raining water, clasped together, they both felt they could stay this way forever.

Vi noticed something then.  Usually, Gage would begin to grow aroused in situations like this, often touching her in intimate places and trying to make love in the confines of the shower.  Tonight his shaft remained limp, pressed against her vulva no less.  A guess as to the cause flashed through her brain, and she wondered if maybe that was the important topic he’d wanted to discuss.  Well, she would assure him that he was still all the man she’d ever want.  There were ways.

“You know, how about we have some coffee or something?” she suggested as they exited the shower and began to dry off.

“Well… if it won’t take you too long.”

She grinned.  “I already got it started.  Should be ready by now.”

“Vi, baby, you’re a wonderful wife,” Gage suddenly declared, catching her in his arms.

“Gage, I love you.”

“I know you do, and I thank God for you all the time.  You’re always taking care of me.  I guess I just…” and he paused.

“What, darling?”

He exhaled and smiled down at her.  “I’ll give you the whole scoop in a minute.”

Contented, she nodded and lifted one of his hands to her lips.  Then she turbaned her hair and drew on a blue silk slip that seductively revealed her legs and the top half of her beautiful breasts.  Once she left to get the coffee, Gage sighed, both happy and unhappy.  He really had an unbelievably blissful marriage, thanks to the goodness of God, but now… how were things going to go?

Once he’d put on shorts and a gray robe, he wandered into the bedroom.  Of all the rooms in the house, he loved this one the most.  Here he had brought Vi on their wedding night, and they’d both experienced the strange glory of first-time sex together.  They’d had nights of passion and mornings of quiet cuddling.  Here they’d talked about happy memories and hopeful dreams, emotional stress and moral puzzles.  There had even been a few almost-arguments, but more often than not they fizzled out when Vi, in her sweet, forgiving nature, put her arms around her husband and kissed him and showed her love with her body.  Those times were all so rich and tender.  Were they over?  Gage felt a little pang in his innermost soul.  The thought of never having that closeness again with his wife broke his heart.

Vi was an extremely keen-sighted woman, and when she reappeared in the doorway with two coffee cups and saw her husband standing by the window looking a little dejected, she stopped.  Longing deepened the luster of her eyes.  Gage’s fears would soon be put to rest if she had anything to do with it.

“Here we are, darling,” she spoke cheerily, entering and holding out the cup.

“Ah, thanks.  Smells good.”  He reached for her hand and led her to the narrow lounge by the bay window, where they both settled comfortably.

For a few seconds, neither said anything.  Gage suddenly didn’t know how to start and got nervous.  He took another sip and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Then Vi leaned close to him, gazing right in his eyes.  “Gage, tell me what’s wrong.”

He licked his lips, then bit the bottom one.  In some embarrassment and distress, he stammered, “I never thought I’d… have to tell you this… Vi, I’m not sure… if it’s my… age, or… maybe how hectic things have been… at work, you know…”  He paused to suck in a long, steadying breath.

“You’re afraid you can’t make love to me?” Vi said it for him.

Surprised, he met her gaze.  “How did you know?”

“We’ve been a little off our game lately,” she explained gently, “and just a while ago, I guessed it.”

Gage’s chest rose and fell with troubled breaths, his eyes scanning her face anxiously.  “My feelings for you haven’t changed.  You’ve got to believe that.”

“I know it,” she assured him, putting her cup on a side table.

“Maybe you should have… waited for a younger man,” he broke out in pain.

Something indescribable spread over Vi’s face and she dove forward, catching her husband’s face tenderly but firmly in her hands.  “Listen to me: the Lord very clearly led us together.  I knew then that you were the man for me, and I don’t know any different now.  I love you, Gage!”

He swallowed, feeling mist wetting his eyes as her words moved his heart.  “I love you, Vi.”  He folded her thinly-clothed body in his arms, his cheek laid to hers, his lips passionately pressing kisses on her hair and jawline.  A little sob caught in her throat too as she felt her man’s emotion.

“I can’t give up all the things we’ve had together,” he whispered unsteadily.

“Stop talking like it’s the end,” was her soft rebuke.  “For one thing, this aspect of our sex life may not be permanent.”

“But for you, it’s the worst,” he argued.  “I don’t want you to feel like you’re not alluring to me or that I’m not giving you what you need.”

She raised her head to look at him.  “Darling, you always give me what I need! And I know you want me and find me desirable.  I didn’t marry you just for your cock.  I love every part of you.  We’re not limited to one way of making love.  That’s just what society has trained us to believe.”

Gage breathed more calmly, listening to her.

“Maybe… this will give us the chance to… really learn to make love with all of our beings, not just with penetration.  I read about some studies on this subject right before I married you.  I understood the implications of the difference in our ages, and I wanted to know all I could if this time ever came.  Darling, there’s so much more than we’ve thought.  There are things I want to do with you, to you, and have you do to me, and you don’t have to be hard for it.”

Just her words sent a tremble through Gage’s whole body, a tremble that made him forget for a second that the blood was not racing to flame up in his shaft.

“What sort of things?” he asked in a low tone.

She nuzzled his ear, then his neck.  “So… many things.”

The faint tremble of his muscles under her warm lips made her smile.  She knew his not getting hard had nothing to do with his attraction to her.  His hands wandered over her cool, freshly-washed skin, sliding under the ribbons of her slip straps.

“Slowly, softly,” she whispered before meeting his lips again with hers.

Accordingly, he slowed his movements, allowing himself to enjoy this moment.  Vi’s hands slipped dexterously down his chest, where she untied his robe and pushed it off his shoulders.  With a languor that would melt any man, she kissed and licked all over his bare chest, punctuating her caresses with soft hums of enjoyment.  Gage let her ravish him, amazed at her beauty and confidence and also curious.  Where was she going with this?

As if replying to his thought, she rose and took his hand, drawing him to their bed.

“Strip me,” she invited, the lust evident in her tone.  “And take your shorts off.  I want my naked body against yours.”

The words ignited his own desire, and with a swift movement, he freed her from the blue slip and stepped out of his underwear.  Together they sank onto the bed.  Vi took command.

“Stretch out and relax, baby.  Let go of every pressure.  There’s no performing here, no rushing towards a finish line, just you and me drinking each other in.”  Her sweet voice dripped over him, easing his muscles and warming his whole being.  Her fingers closed around his limp penis and proceeded to massage him leisurely.  “Keep your eyes on my face, darling.  Touch me.  Feel every inch of my skin.  I’m here for your pleasure.”  She stretched out alongside him, hooking her leg over his, making as much contact with his flesh as she could.

Gage wasn’t sure why this moment felt so different from other times they’d made love.  It was so… serene.  There were no expectations.  He had no cause to feel shamed by his unaroused manhood.  Instead, his incredible wife was loving him in a new way, a way that took in every part of him as a man and not just his genitals.  His own hands strayed over the acres of soft, light skin that women are peculiarly blest with.  Just grasping that she was his, and he was hers, was enough to raise his need to a high level.  And her practiced touch on his warm meat and substantial sack was as pleasurable as ever.  Strange that people thought a non-erect penis meant no pleasure.  He was hugely enjoying this.

But the troubling thought from earlier reoccurred: while he could still find release and satisfaction, he couldn’t give it to Vi.  At least, not with penetration.  Then he really focused on her face.  Her eyes were fixed on his, her tongue now and then touching her lips to moisten them.  While one of her gentle hands worked luxuriously on his dick, the other crept up and traced his jaw.  Her warm breasts flattened against his pectorals.  And her foot played with his.  Little mewls of lazy delight sang in her throat.  She was enjoying this too.

“Touch my pussy, Gage,” she begged.

His fingertips were there in an instant.  He found her wet with want.  It was bliss to draw his fingers through that feminine syrup, so musky and raw and unique to her.  He couldn’t resist raising a finger to his lips and tasting it.  That nearly made him convulse.

“My God, darling… how do you taste so good?” he muttered.

“Keep looking at me, baby,” she instructed, her breath coming a little faster.  “Feel me with your body.  We’re so close to each other.  My legs, my belly, my breasts and hands and feet and lips… all touching you.  Let me in, darling.  Just like I let you in when you enter my pussy, so let me in now, through your skin and your emotions and your heart.”

“Oh Vi… ” Gage couldn’t figure out what he felt.  This was a new closeness, a new intimacy.  It almost felt like she was seeping in through his pores.  Was this a little bit of what she felt when he penetrated her? It was magnificent.

Her hands continued to pleasure him, and his did the same for her.  They said no more, but they didn’t have to.  They gazed with all the power and madness of married need into each other’s eyes, carrying each other further along a river of delight.  This lovemaking was soft, almost fragile, as if a rough sound or movement would shatter it.  This demanded focus, an intentional concentration on every breath and blink and sigh, every angle and sweat droplet and quiver.  It forced Gage to really look at his wife, to revel in all aspects of her being: tumbled hair, smile wrinkles, eyelashes, kiss-plumped lips, smooth shoulders, curved backside, rounded hip.

Both surrendered to the other.  Gage let himself become vulnerable.  Vi, too, basked in the closeness, feeling her soul sealed with his more deeply than before.  This was oneness.  It did not necessarily require penetration.  It required a joining of spirits, a giving of self.  A channel would be created through which love chemicals could flow at a level where they could clearly feel it, unhindered by the thrashing and wildness of typical intercourse.

Keeping herself pressed against her husband’s body, Vi rubbed him with longer, firmer strokes.  He on his part held her securely, relishing the length of her smooth frame against him, and tenderly made love to her with his fingers.  Though they had not expected orgasm to come from this experiment, both were surprised and grateful to feel a rising tide of hot pleasure.  Gage, who had always set himself to bringing Vi to climax first, found himself arching his butt off the bed as tension took over his pelvis.  His cock was trying to spasm in spite of its softness.

“Yes, darling! Oh, yes, Gage! Cum for me! Show me how much you love my hands on your beautiful cock!” Vi encouraged, her own body starting to quiver.

“Unnnggg… oh, God… oh, baby… ” Gage spat out the words in gasps.  His hips shook, and involuntarily he clenched Vi tightly, still curling his fingers inside her.  Vi watched in blurred delight as his balls constricted and a jet of creamy semen broke from the tip.  The sight set off her orgasm.

“Oh yes, that’s wonderful! Oh my God, Gage! I love you!” and she trembled under his deft touch while her inner muscles tensed and released a shower of fluid, soaking Gage’s hand and thigh.

As the sharpness of the bliss receded, leaving a sweet blanket over them, they stayed as they were: skin to skin, awash in their mingled cream, still so intertwined emotionally that they couldn’t bear to part physically.  Long minutes of this unspeakable closeness passed.  Then Vi raised her head and kissed Gage’s lips.

“Do you believe me now, my darling?” she asked tenderly.

His eyes flamed with love and gratefulness.  “Vi, I will never doubt you again.  How can I thank God for a wife who does what you just did?”

She smiled.  “I’m so thankful that everything I heard about ‘soft sex’ is real.  God is good to grant us the ability to make love in so many ways.  Oh, baby, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so close to you.”

“Me neither.  It was… amazing,” Gage agreed, kissing her again.  “Thank you, darling, for being patient.  For being willing to try other things.”

“You are welcome.  I enjoyed it too,” she grinned.  “Gage, you can always be assured that I am satisfied by you.  You just gave me a marvelous orgasm, and I wasn’t even expecting it! That shows how good a lover you are.”

“I think,” Gage observed, rolling her so that she was no longer beneath him, “that any man who’s experiencing what we’re experiencing needs a wife like you.”

She answered by pulling him down for a long, deep kiss.