Walking the Way

The man lay naked under the duvet. It had not been a cold day, but he had the blanket up to his chin. He had an arm slung over his face.

His thoughts turned to a woman on this lonely night. A woman who had been born in the mountains west of here and moved to the city for college. They met here sometime later when he came for a job.

As he lay in bed that night he pictured her in his mind. Her delicate features and short cropped hair. Narrow eyes. Small nose. Small breasts. Tiny mounds of flesh with outsized nipples.

He went hard beneath the blanket.

As he thought of her, he stroked himself in slow rhythmic motions. He brought himself up to a heat, then he stopped, let the heat diffuse. He wasn't in any rush to finish. Not tonight.

When he was soft again, he opened his eyes. Outside the window, sitting on the sill, was a large magpie. Its blue and gray wings fluttered in the spring air. Black crowned. Long tailed.

The bird was an omen. A symbol in Chinese mythology of separated lovers. A symbol of hope for reunion.

The man seized the opportunity. His eyes rolled back in their sockets. He left his body. His consciousness entered the magpie. The bird blinked. Stunned by the intrusion. When it opened its eyes, the man saw his own body through the smudged glass. He was laying on the bed, under the duvet. Eyes rolling beneath the lids as if dreaming.

His secret power: Walking the Way.

Then the bird took wing. He was in the driver's seat, seeing the world through the bird's eyes. He watched Shanghai pass below. There were neon lights and signs and advertisements. There was traffic, even this late. Lights of white and red reflected off the recent downpour that still lay pooled on the roads. There were no stars overhead. Never in big cities. Only a velvet darkness. The buildings he flew over were closed. Most of the windows were dark. But there were lights on, people still awake to enjoy the night.

Together the bird and he flew over the British colonial buildings of the Bund then out over the dark waters of the Yangtze River. The bird wheeled, tracing a wide circumference in the sky. The man knew his destination.

When he saw the gate to the apartment complex, the bird descended. It flew low over trees. Then banked between two high rises. He counted the floors. Knew which unit. And fluttered to a perch on one particular windowsill.

There were potted plants in a narrow aluminum box suspended from the window. The magpie gripped the rail. It lowered itself on its haunches. Fluffing feathers. Settling in for the show.

Li Huangju lay atop the blankets. Her head rested comfortably against a stack of pillows, loose hair tumbled freely. She was naked. She took a bottle of lotion from the nightstand and rubbed it on her legs.

The magpie's gaze crawled across her creamy thighs. He was enchanted by her beauty, by her warmth and her charms. He loved her with all his heart. This woman was his wife.

Dustin had met Huangju through a mutual friend. She worked with a foreigner that he had gone to college with back in the States. They exchanged contact information and talked on the phone.

It was sometime later that they got a chance to meet. Sometime after that, they married.

He never once regretted that decision. She was strong and soft. Intelligent and passionate. She was cold to him at times and yet she loved him. He knew that.

There was a light on in the bathroom. There was the sound of running water. It stopped. Then a man stepped out.

She smiled at him. Beckoned him to her despite her nerves. Knowing this was wrong and knowing that she wanted him all the same.

The man approached the bed. He was Chinese, someone she worked with, but Dustin had never met him. He had a lean build, with a dark complexion and some minimal hair on his chest and lower legs. In the soft glow of the lamp they smiled at one another.

Dark and passionate. Goofy and naïve. He seemed oblivious to her discomfort.

Then he slipped under the covers and held her in his arms. She shuddered. His touch electric. She knew what she was doing, what this encounter meant, and it terrified her.

They spoke some words in Mandarin. Dustin understood a little. The rest was muffled by the window and his own lack of fluency. He asked if she was comfortable. She said yes. He asked if this is really something she wanted. Again, she said yes.

There was a blare of traffic. Cars passed below him. A chill wind splashed over the bird's body.

Inside, the two lovers' bodies glowed golden in the warm lamp light.

She asked him if he wanted a drink. He said yes. Then Huangju held up both hands and glasses magically appeared, half filled with a sweet yellow wine. The man smiled, they clinked glasses and then downed the alcohol in a single shot. He handed the glass back and with a wave, the empty glasses disappeared back to the ether from which they came.

Her spell: Reverence for Guanyin.

The man pulled her close. His mouth found hers. The kiss was soft, carefully controlled. He kissed her with a tenderness she had expected from him. His hands caressed her shoulders, her arms, her waist. She pressed herself against him.

Then the kiss broke. A second time she went for the lotion. She applied more to the inside of her thighs. She set the bottle aside, looked at him through mysteriously hooded eyes, smiled at him. Her legs hooked at the ankles. Thighs pressed together.

He climbed on top of her. And he pushed his member between her thighs. He rubbed his manhood against the soft flesh of her inner leg. That position put them face to face, staring into one another's eyes as they began the encounter.

This kind of foreplay drove her husband crazy, and now she was sharing it with another man.

She knew he wanted to go faster, appreciated him taking things slow on her account. In fact, she knew that she couldn't do this with just anyone, but they had been friends for so long, they knew each other well. And it took that kind of guy to tempt her from her husband's bed.

His member was hot and throbbing. It bumped her crotch. She gasped from the sudden contact. He mumbled an apology.

She shook her head, dismissing his concern. She was not nearly as nervous now. And she realized in that moment how much she ached for him. She grabbed his cock, knew it would torture him to wait any longer. She gave it a soft pull. He groaned.

This was to be her first new partner since her marriage. Dustin felt a hot rush of jealousy. This guy was going to intimately know his wife. He resented this man.

The man moved into position. She was wet with anticipation. She guided his member into her. She gasped. Sudden and intense, it filled her. Her legs wrapped around him, her ankles hooked behind the small of his back.

Then he fucked her hot and fast. It had been slow up to that point, with an emphasis on foreplay, so she didn't mind it fast now. He pumped it with a practiced efficiency that spoke of comfort and familiarity.

She surrendered and let him go at his own speed.

He propped himself on his hands, suspended over her. His hips flexed. His member deep. He pulled it all the way out between thrusts.

Dustin watched through the bird's eyes. He saw his wife's cheek flush red. He saw her eyes squeeze shut. Her pale legs up in the air. Ankles locked behind the man's waist. He got an eye full of her smooth skin. Her warm glow.

She cried out with each thrust. A slap of sweaty flesh against sweaty flesh. The bed creaked under the intensity of their lovemaking. Her hands gripped the bedsheets. Her head rolled back on the pillow.

Then the man went faster still. A staccato of thrusts. He lowered himself on top of her. Chest crushed breasts. Skin slick against skin. She moaned. One long cry of pain and pleasure. Her hands gripped the blankets.

After a few more titanic thrusts, he tensed, he climaxed, exploded inside her. His whole body convulsed. She grabbed his butt and pulled him deeper. Held him inside her. Savored the fullness within her.

Then he went slower. Still flexing. Leaving more inside her. He descended from his high. His movements became relaxed. He pulled out, waited a moment, then slowly re-entered. Slid the length of it inside her with excruciating slowness. Calibrated now for her pleasure.

She moaned. Flexed her own hips, bouncing his member around inside her.

Dustin starred, transfixed by the sight of his wife being fully satiated.

When she climaxed, she shuddered, as the orgasm washed over her. With her it was a full body experience. Her head rolled back against the pillow. Fingers gripped the bedding. Blood pounded through her, flushed her cheeks and breasts and face red. Tingling the tips of her toes and the padding of her fingers.

Two bodies entwined afterwards, slick with sweat. Post coital bliss. She slapped his butt. Still shaking with aftershocks.

They kissed some. Starred into each other's eyes.

When they separated, she lay against his chest. Then she held up a hand. Thumb and forefinger slightly apart. A cigarette magically appeared. She offered it. He took a draw. They she summoned another for herself.

Then he spoke. He said he hoped she didn't regret this.

She shook her head.

He said he hoped their friendship won't change.

And she laughed and patted his chest and told him of course it will change. But that need not be a bad thing.

Dustin knew it was time to leave. He stepped out of the bird's mind and back into his own body, lying in bed all the way on the other side of Shanghai. He became himself again.

He blinked. Took some moments to orient himself.

When he did, he found his member hard with desire. He rolled over on his chest. The soft linen sheets felt smooth against his naked body. His hands gripped his thighs, creating a cavity. His hot member pressed between the bed and his abdomen.

He rubbed himself against the bed. It was quick and hurried. He paused a couple of times to cool off, before charging ahead again. The whole time he pictured his wife and the other man.

Soon he shot it across the bed and his stomach and his forearms.

Then he rolled over. Faced the ceiling. He thought about the conversation that happened two week ago that led to this strange night.

"There's something I want to do," his wife told him one night while the two lay side by side in bed. "I want to have an affair."

The man flinched. "Why?"

She laughed. "I want to torture you."

He flinched.

"But seriously, I want make you jealous, knowing I'm with another guy. That you are powerless to stop me. I want you to lay here in bed, alone, imagining us together."

"You're evil," he said, not unkindly.

"It's what excites me." Her hand traced a pattern on his bare chest. Her touch was gentle. "Then afterward I will come home. It will be very late. I'll lay beside you and tell you about him. What he was like. How good he was." Her fingers paused. Then moved down to his boxers. Slipped inside and caressed his manhood. "Then I will make love to you, and you will reclaim me as your wife and it will be glorious. It will be a new first time for us."

The man was aroused despite himself. The thought of her with another man was oddly exciting.

Over the next few days they discussed the details. She wanted to lay with one of her work colleagues. She asked a mutual friend to talk to him as an intermediary. Gifts were exchanged. A date was arranged.

The husband and wife spent the time planning the encounter. The other man wasn't even involved. Where they would meet for dinner, what they would do after. It was all scripted well in advance. She liked having a plan.

When the day finally came, both of them were nervous about what this meant.

"Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

He thought about it, nodded, then he kissed her on her cheek before watching her get ready and then leave for her date.

When she returned, in the small hours of the morning, she climbed into bed beside him.

She lay her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for letting me do this."

"How...?"

"Amazing," she said with a smile. "So gentle. He knew I was nervous and didn't force me to go faster than I was comfortable with."

"I'm glad for you."

"Are you jealous?"

He knew what she wanted to hear. "Yes."

"Good." She smiled and kissed him. Soft at first. Then the tension between them snapped. And he grabbed her and crushed his mouth against hers.

Then they made love. And it was indeed glorious.