A Study in Monogamy and Sexuality

Amy Baxter smoothed the sides of her duo-patterned primarily light green tight skirt, recently purchased from Anthropologie, as she viewed her reflection in the full length light-surrounded mirror on her walk-in closet door. The lines forming on her forehead and the edges of her eyes didn't please her, but she knew them to be visible only because of the high intensity of the lighted mirror's glare. She was secure enough in her femininity to acknowledge to herself that they were natural consequences of aging and until they became highly visible in normal indoor lighting she had no interest in cosmetic surgery.

Foremost in her mind was that for someone forty eight years old that she was remarkably well preserved. She would love to credit some acquired moral virtue for her appearance but knew that to be ridiculous for many reasons, including the fact that her mother looked the same at her age. Her preservation was simply a matter of good genes, helped along by watching her diet and daily exercise. She was immensely proud of her shapely legs, much longer than one would expect of someone five feet six inches tall, and her round ass.

Amy took off the bra that she had tried on because she didn't like its feel. It was cut too large for a 34 C. After she removed it she twisted back and forth in front of the mirror to confirm that her bare tits were still firm, pinched her oversized nipples to test their sensitivity, then put on a more comfortable but still elegant "small cut" 34C bra. Her stylish satin blouse conformed to her torso perfectly, and its magenta color was an optimum complement to her green eyes and eye shadow and patterned green skirt.

Amy's fashion-critical eye confirmed that the colors of the outfit worked well for her complexion as she carefully brushed her light brown hair, pleased that the auburn highlights her cosmetologist had introduced into her curls masked the small streaks of gray that had started showing up a year ago.

As Amy slipped on her three inch "comfortable" magenta heels and turned to exit her bedroom she couldn't help but contemplate the busy day that she had ahead of her. First there was the interview at The SMS Clinic, then lunch with the committee that she chaired for the upcoming ball they were hosting to fund Alzheimer's treatment centers in their city, followed by a delicious sojourn at the Four Seasons with a friend from out of town. That, in turn, would be followed by a drive home to make dinner for Brian, her husband of twenty six years, and Gillian, her twenty two year old daughter who was arriving home for spring break from graduate school. The busy day would hopefully conclude with a steamy sexual encounter with her hubby once Gillian left to party with her home town friends.

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The GPS in her Lexus faultlessly directed Amy to the old part of the city, one that she had little familiarity with despite living in the metropolitan area most of her life. As she approached the three story Gothic architecture edifice that housed the SMS Clinic a few minutes before her 8:30 a. m. appointment, she laughed to herself that it was almost like walking into a building on the Princeton Campus when she visited her twenty year old son, Chad. Chad was now a junior at Princeton and due to arrive for his spring break two days hence.

As Amy moved up the short flight of granite steps and then toward the first floor reception area of the building she couldn't help but think that the blue color of the interior walls clashed with the Oriental rug and wainscoting visible upon first entry into the reception area. The large mahogany desk also seemed "a little much," but at least everything was aesthetic.

"Amy Baxter to see Dr. Sheer and Professor Patton," she said with a smile to the bright-eyed young receptionist with a magenta bow in her blond hair.

"Hello Mrs. Baxter," the cheery and polite receptionist replied. "I love your blouse -- magenta is my favorite color."

"I can see that," Amy laughed pointing to her bow, "and one of my favorites too."

"Would you mind having a seat, Mrs. Baxter? I know that they are expecting you and I'll have them come right out," the young woman said in a sing-song voice as she rose from her seat and scurried toward a hallway in back of her desk.

Amy was seated for no more than a minute when the receptionist returned with a man and a woman in tow.

"Mrs. Baxter, thank you so much for coming; I'm James Patton," the man greeted her with outstretched hand.

As Amy shook his hand and replied "So nice to meet you, Professor Patton," she couldn't help but think that he sure looked like a professor straight from central casting. Billowing brown hair graying significantly at the temples; a goatee with more gray than the hair on his head; a somewhat rumpled appearance despite the quality of his tweed jacket and navy slacks; and penetrating blue eyes.

"Please call me 'James'" he intoned as he vigorously shook her hand. "And this is Betsy Sheer," he said, letting go of Amy's hand and turning toward the bespectacled pleasant looking tiny woman on his left.

"Nice to meet you, too, Dr. Sheer," Amy said extending her hand.

"Please, 'Betsy,'" Dr. Sheer responded as she reservedly shook Amy's hand.

"I'll go along with you if you call me Amy; Mrs. Baxter is my mother-in-law," Amy grinned

"As much as Professor Patton looks his part, Dr. Sheer doesn't look hers," Amy chortled to herself as the researchers agreed with her proposal.

Betsy and James chatted with Amy about the history of their office building as they meandered back toward the main conference room. Once there they got directly to the point.

"Amy, you have no idea how pleased we are that you agreed to meet with us today, and we hope that you have a full three hours to spend with us," Betsy earnestly spoke while James was busy setting up recording equipment.

"I was actually excited to help -- I never thought when I signed up for a general study on monogamy and sexuality with Professor Jenkins as a twenty two year old college senior that I'd be followed all the way to my ripe old age of forty eight," Amy replied with a big smile.

"Well considering that we've only been able to track down sixty percent of the participants from that time, a total of one hundred six, we're extremely grateful and can't tell you how important you -- specifically you -- are to our study," James continued while Betsy applied sensing electrodes to various parts of Amy's exposed skin.

"Why 'specifically' me, James?" Amy asked.

"Because of what's in your dossier, because you've been one of only 10% of the study participants that the study researchers have been able to interview every five years since the study started, because of Professor Jenkins' comments and predictions, and because -- well," James continued, while turning a little crimson, "how can I phrase this..."

James was mercifully interrupted by Betsy; "Because you're the hottest prospect in our study -- 'hottest' in the sense of most sexually provocative."

Now it was Amy's turn to blush. Recovering quickly she asked "So when did you two take over for Professor Jenkins?"

"We took over immediately after his death last year. Because of the turmoil that his untimely passing caused it has been six years since your last interview instead of five, but that is of little consequence," Betsy replied.

"He was a very gentle, pleasant, intelligent, man," Amy mused.

"Indeed," Betsy confirmed as she continued to place electrodes onto Amy's exposed skin. When Betsy was done placing electrodes she handed a flexible probe to Amy and said "I trust that you've used this before?"

"Yes, I have; but in the interests of false modesty would you two mind turning around while I insert it?" Amy hesitantly responded.

"Why, of course...sorry," James nervously said as he and Betsy turned their backs.

"All done," Amy announced a few seconds later as she sat back down after having inserted the flexible probe into her vagina.

After a few background questions, catching the researchers up on Amy's activities since she was last interviewed at age forty two, Professor Patton summarized Amy's past interview results before moving on to the present.

"Please correct me if your recollection is different, Amy, but according to our records, based both upon what you told the researchers and your physiological responses to questions, situations, and videos -- which I'll refer to as the three scenarios -- your views on sexuality and monogamy have seemed to change a significant amount over the years. At twenty two you had strong responses in all three scenarios indicating solid adherence to monogamy, and dismissing sexuality as a major factor in your life. Your views seem to have evolved since then, correct?" James asked.

"Yes, that's fair," Amy replied.

"Both Betsy and I noticed one blip in your psychological responses when you were interviewed at age thirty two that puzzled us. At that time you verbally indicated that you had not had a sexual encounter outside of marriage, and apparently no one inquired about that further despite the fact that your psychological response seemed to contradict your verbal one.. We'd like to pursue that now if we could," James continued.

With a sigh Amy responded, "OK. Let me just tell the story rather than answering questions -- it is still hard, twenty years later, to get through."

"Please," said Betsy as she and James leaned back in their chairs.

"I had a younger male cousin, Jeremy, who had a crush on me virtually his entire life. I was always nice to him even when he had a speech impediment as a youngster. He grew out of that into a charming, handsome young man. Anyway, when I was eight months pregnant with my youngest, my son Chad, Jeremy came to visit as his last stop on his way to Iraq. He had just completed Army basic training. My husband Brian was out of town at the time," Amy sighed, then hesitated.

"Go on," Betsy encouraged.

"Well Jeremy helped me take care of Gillian, three at the time, who was a handful. She really took to a liking to him. After Gillian went to bed Jeremy's last night there -- I still think this may have been Freudian because I can't believe that I said something like that -- I complained about my crotch being itchy because my pubic hairs were in the stubble stage and that I couldn't see over my belly to shave without cutting myself. He got this wide-eyed 'Bambi' look then volunteered to shave me," Amy gulped.

After sipping some water Amy continued. "The look that Jeremy gave me, my constantly surging hormones due to my pregnancy, my knowledge that he had always had a crush on me, and the fact that he was very nervous about going to Iraq, made me agree. Whew! Well, he gently and carefully shaved my crotch and before I even knew that he was done he started licking my mound. To make a long story short, that night he fucked me doggy style twice -- no, actually, that's wrong. He MADE LOVE to me twice. The next morning when Gillian and I took him to the train station he was walking on air he was so happy. I kissed him goodbye and never saw him again," Amy concluded, the last few words accompanied by tears.

"So how did you feel about that after he left and Brian returned home?" James inquired.

"My pregnancy and three year-old caused me to focus on other things, although I had a few pangs of guilt. However, once Jeremy helped cure me of postpartum depression, I never felt guilt again, just a sense of satisfaction," Amy replied.

"I don't understand; how did he help cure you of postpartum depression?" Betsy asked with a baffled expression.

Amy steeled herself before responding. "I was suffering postpartum depression after Chad was born. A little over a month after Chad's birth my Aunt called and said that Jeremy had been killed by a roadside IED. I was almost hysterical when providence smiled on me. There was a knock at the door -- it was the postman. I had to sign for a package so I pulled myself together as best that I could."

Amy took another deep breath then wiped the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief that James wordlessly handed her.

"In the mail was a letter from Jeremy. I can still repeat the opening to the letter word-for-word. 'My dearest Amy. My fear of the unknown in Iraq dissipated before I boarded the train after you and Gillian dropped me off at the station. How many men are as lucky as I was to fulfill my number one fantasy? No matter what else happens I will be a happy mannnn.'" The last word was barely audible as Amy sobbed into the hankie.

After Betsy comforted Amy and her tears stopped flowing Amy sat upright and said "After that, and with consultations with my doctor, I snapped out of my depression. Significantly as far as you are concerned, I was never anything but proud and grateful that Jeremy and I had had a loving sexual encounter just before his death."

"WOW!" James said while furiously pecking away at his computer and while Betsy just doodled on the pad in front of her.

A few more mundane questions broke the "spell" surrounding Amy's narrative before the researchers moved onto the next important topic on their agenda. "Now, Amy, at the time of your last interview you indicated that you and Brian had just had a discussion that was causing your thinking to evolve more so than at any other time in your life. Did the evolution continue?" James asked.

"Most definitely," Amy shot back. "My last interview, when I was forty two, was just after Brian and I had returned from a six day Caribbean cruise, sans kids. On the cruise Brian surprised me by engaging me in several serious discussions about married male-female relationships. That is when we weren't fucking," Amy laughed, and the researchers smiled.

"Anyway," Amy continued, "Brian started talking about the emotional and motivational erosion that most marriages encounter after what he called 'normal rebound' in a marriage. He also talked about 'intimacy' as the most important factor in a happy relationship and espoused the possibility that people can have true intimacy in a highly satisfactory marriage even though they keep some aspects of their life and response to sexual stimuli entirely secret."

"Wow!" Betsy exclaimed. "He was throwing out many technical terms that psychologists studying marriage use. What is Brian's profession?"

"He's the Vice President of Human Resources for a Fortune 1000 company. He deals with all sorts of issues relating to job and life satisfaction, and I assume that he came across this information in one of the seminars he attended. Obviously many employees of the company are married, and Brian constantly says that employees satisfied in all aspect of life are the best employees," Amy replied.

"We certainly concur with that," James stated as Betsy nodded agreement.

"Anyway, for several months after our cruise -- and after my last interview with Professor Jenkins and his team -- I thought long and hard about what Brian and I had discussed. I came to the conclusion -- rightly or wrongly, I'll still not positive but it works for me -- that he was subtly advising me that he had sexual proclivities that he would never share with me, and expected from his interaction and observation of me over the years that I was the same way; and that it was OK, because we had true intimacy in many ways, and true relationship satisfaction," Amy continued as she stood up and stretched.

"What did your revelations do to your views on monogamy and sexuality?" Betsy inquired.

"My 'revelations,' as you refer to my conclusions from my deep discussions with Brian, made me conclude that sexual monogamy was not essential to a happy and satisfied marriage, and that I would use my sexuality to explore other types of relationships and to advance any lifetime agenda that I considered worthwhile," Amy deadpanned while stretching once again.

"What has been the practical result?" James asked.

"The practical result -- as you put it -- has been that I have had sexual encounters with eleven men besides my husband over the last five and one-half years," Amy replied with a diabolical grin.

"Is there some pattern to those encounters?" Betsy asked after scribbling on her notebook.

"For ten of the eleven the pattern was virtually identical -- and I'll save you the trouble of asking about the pattern and just tell you," Amy chortled. "All ten of the men were between about two and ten years younger than I was; all were handsome, clean and at least somewhat happily married; they all lived out of town; all provided me with a 'No STDs' certification before we had penile penetration; and I never had more than four sessions with any of them, and never more than two encounters during any one session. Also, all sessions were in their hotel rooms in the afternoon when Brian was in town, and in all except one instance after our sexual encounter I douched, made Brian a great dinner, and then fucked his ever-loving brains out that night."

"How did you find these men?" James asked.

"Mostly through contacts with clueless event planners who are friends of mine, some through my activities with a number of national and local charities that I do volunteer work for, and one just by happenstance."

"How did you interest them, and even more remarkably, how did you get them to provide 'No STDs' certifications?" Betsy asked, completely perplexed.

"I interested them by using my sexuality to the utmost. If after interacting with them for ten minutes or so, including touching their arms and hips, I didn't see a gleam in their eye and tented trousers, I didn't pursue the matter. If I did see those I was blatant. My 'line,' if you want to call it that, that I delivered during our second meeting -- again for all except the 'happenstance' one it was at the second meeting -- was the same. I would take the gentleman aside and say 'Jack. I thought about you a lot since our last meeting. I would be interested in some extracurricular activities that I am positive would be mutually beneficial. However since I detest condoms I would want a certification from you that you are free of STDs, and I would provide you with one. If you are interested there is a clinic at 12th and Jackson and here is my private cell phone number.' Then I would give him a light kiss on the lips, making sure to press my boobs into contact with his chest, and stare at them looking for an immediate response."

Both researchers sat back in their chairs, amazed and entranced, for a significant period of time before Betsy regained her wits and said "Wow! A bitch-in-heat; please pardon the expression. So, how often were you successful?"

"Ten out of twelve times."

"What about the two you weren't successful with?" James anxiously asked.

"I treated them both in a very friendly manner whenever I next saw them, but never brought the subject up again. I know that one of the two anxiously wanted to bring the subject up again in a subsequent meeting, but I made sure that I was never alone with him, and never answered the phone when his number popped up on caller ID," Amy replied with a smile.

After several minutes of James pecking away at his laptop and Betsy scribbling notes in her pad Betsy had some more questions.

"You said that one time you didn't douche, make dinner, and then have -- can I properly describe it as 'lights-out' -- sex with Brian. What happened there?" Betsy asked her words pregnant with curiosity.

"That guy I had only one sexual encounter with; he wanted others, but I declined. He was too well-endowed; I guess that I don't have to say more than that, do I?" Amy replied with a chuckle. "It was both the most overall painful, but in some ways pleasurable, experience I had with any paramour. However, I was just too stretched and sore to seek sex with Brian that night, and in fact for one of only a handful of times in our married life begged off when he tried to initiate it. Of course I still did douche and make him a great dinner; Oh, and I gave Brain a blowjob, so he was still happy," Amy laughed.