Cheaters Read online

  Devang looks at Kratika. She has a smile on her face. It makes him smile too. He has a semi-hard-on by now.

  ‘Girls are so easy in a guy’s fantasy, isn’t it? She would have slapped you if you had held her by the waist like that,’ she sniggers.

  Devang laughs out loud. Kratika is right, of course.

  ‘Also, how come you let her lead?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe since you are beside me, I’m a little wary of what you might say if I’d said I pounced on her.’

  ‘What a gentleman of a husband I have. On the one hand he is telling me his fantasy of another woman and on the other he is behaving as if whatever happened in the fantasy is because of the woman. Wow, I love you, Devang.’

  Devang kisses Kratika’s cheek in delight.

  Kratika’s Fantasy

  ‘Swastik is no Mr Desirable. It’s not that he isn’t good-looking, well dressed but, you know, not my type. This along with the fact that he is younger than me makes it difficult for me to fantasize about him but I will still try. Maybe the only thing that turns me on about him is the way he looks at me. Okay, I imagine it is night-time and the office is almost empty. Only Swastik is there and, of course, me too. We are finishing our work. We sit close to each other, separated by only two chairs. I find him looking at me through a mirror in front of us. He is giving me those prying looks. The moment our eyes lock, he hastily looks down. I know the leverage is with me. Else he would’ve maintained his gaze. There is something in him that is holding him back from what he has on his mind. As if the moment our eyes meet, I will read his mind and judge him. But I enjoy it this way. It gives me a sense of power. You know how much I like to control these things, Devang, don’t you?

  ‘The next time he looks into the mirror, I open my bottle and drink water while looking at him. I finish my water but pretend to be thirsty. Swastik immediately offers me his bottle. I take it, thank him and drink obscenely. The way Priyanka did while drinking her breezer, I imagine. This time Swastik interrupts. He says he has drank from it before. I pause, give a slightly devilish look and tell him it’s okay. And gulp down the water, all the while staring at him. My chair has wheels. So I wheel myself over to him and thank him, looking deep into his eyes. He can’t take his eyes off of me.

  ‘A minute later I get up. He gets up too. Work’s done. It’s time to leave. We go to the elevator together. I know he has things to tell me but he doesn’t. When a woman makes a man stack up things inside him, he is like a volcano waiting to erupt. I love that thought. The fact that I’m not letting him erupt. We step inside the elevator together. There’s no one else. The door closes. We are going down to the ground floor; our office floor is on the seventh. After the fifth floor, the elevator clangs to a stop. There’s a power cut. It is pitch dark inside. I don’t react. He switches on his phone’s torchlight. We can hear each other breathing urgently in the silence. He points the torchlight towards me. Drops of sweat trickle down my forehead. He slowly points the torchlight downwards on my body. As if he is stripping me. It’s damn arousing. He takes a step closer. We stare at each other intensely, He tries to come closer but we hear someone trying to open the door from outside. It’s one of the security guards. The door is yanked open but we are still a few feet above the ground. Swastik jumps down first. He urges me to jump as well and says that he will catch me. Our bodies rub against each other when he catches me. I feel his hardness as he puts me down on the floor.’

  Kratika stops. Few seconds later, Devang says, ‘Go on. I’m listening.’

  She holds his rock-hard penis and whispers into his eyes, ‘I know you have been listening.’

  ‘So, what happens next?’ His mouth has gone dry.

  ‘Fantasy ends.’

  ‘You are not going to . . .’

  ‘I’m going to . . . with my husband. In reality.’ Kratika smiles at him seductively. Devang swallows nervously as if in a spell.

  ‘See, your wife wasn’t easy in her fantasy as well,’ Kratika says, chuckling.

  ‘But I dare you to be difficult now,’ Devang says and flips her to get on top. By the time they are done, they are gasping for air.

  * * *

  Third Weekend

  Devang and Kratika constantly texted each other throughout the week; they found it really funny to see the persons they had fantasized about in real life. They didn’t remember the last time they had been looking forward to a weekend so expectantly. Earlier, they would get so caught up with everything that they would realize that it was weekend only at the last moment. But now, they were still taking time out and counting down to the weekend.

  Devang’s Fantasy

  ‘You remember I’d gone to a house party at a college friend’s posh flat in KR Puram a few months ago? I know I’m being repetitive with parties but I like the scenario. I promise it will be different next time.’

  ‘That’s fine. Who is judging anyway?’ Kratika says softly.

  True, Devang thinks and continues. ‘So, I’m at this house party. There are a few girls as well. The doorbell rings. It is one our friends. She says she also got along her roommate because she was feeling bored. Everyone in the group says it’s fine. For me it’s more than fine. Her roommate is Priyanka. I know it’s a silly coincidence. But fantasies are about that, no? I notice a twinkle in her eyes when she spots me. I already have a breezer in my hand for her and a beer for myself. But surprising me, she takes the beer instead. I’m impressed. She tells me I’m impressed because I’m surprised. I agree. We chat, which allows us to have three beers on the trot. The way she laughs at whatever I say makes me realize that she is tipsy. I mean, you know for a fact I don’t have that good a sense of humour.’

  ‘Or it could mean that she is really interested in you,’ Kratika says. Devang throws her a thanks-for-helping-my-cause glance at her. ‘I search my pockets and tell her I have forgotten my cigarettes. She says we can go out to buy them. I readily agree. We excuse ourselves. We go to the elevator but find that it’s not working. So we decide to take the stairs. But Priyanka suggests we take the backstairs, saying that the view from there is fantastic. I follow her and realize that it’s an open staircase and indeed has a view of the city line. We are on the sixteenth floor. I ask her incredulously if she climbed sixteen floors. She says they took the elevator but her roommate had a smoke here before entering.’

  ‘Unnecessary detail,’ Kratika laments.

  ‘Sorry,’ Devang says.

  ‘I’m about to climb down the stairs when I hear a giggle. It’s Priyanka. She says she is reminded of what her roomie and she were discussing minutes ago standing in the staircase. “What?” She stops smiling and climbs down the stairs to reach me. She stops on the stair above mine, places her hands on my shoulder and tells me to sit down. I do so as if under a spell. She too sits down putting her hand right on my groin and slowly unzips my jeans and puts her hand inside. My jaws drop. I start breathing faster. And when I realize she has my penis inside her mouth, my eyes shut. She gives me the best blowjob of my life. Like the best of the best . . .’

  ‘Sorry, I’m not comparing. Just went with the flow,’ Devang sounds apologetic.

  ‘No offence taken, Mr,’ Kratika says. ‘What happens then?’ she asks.

  ‘She makes me come. It’s done. You know I come only once in a night.’

  ‘Now, tell me what you have in mind?’

  Kratika smiles teasingly.

  ‘Just don’t make it a long one,’ Devang says, glancing at his erection.

  Kratika’s Fantasy

  ‘I close my eyes. I see rains. Incessant rains. Then I see myself trying to book an Ola/Uber. Nothing is available. I don’t know what to do. I’m standing next to the exit of our office premises. The world outside is murky. The kind that makes you feel today is probably the last day of the world. And it wants to sign off making everyone feel scared, depressed and frustrated. I try to call you but there’s some network problem.

  ‘Is it okay if I mention you in my fant
asy?’ Kratika asks.

  ‘Yeah, sure. But only to the extent you did just now,’ Devang says. They don’t look at each other. Kratika’s eyes are closed.

  ‘I don’t know what to do. That’s when I hear someone honking. I realize it’s Swastik. He gestures me to get inside. I hurriedly get inside the car. We make small talk as he pulls out of the office premises.

  ‘The drive is slow because of the traffic. Swastik wants to focus on me but has to do so with his eyes on the road lest he hits someone or some vehicle. I decide to tease him a bit. I casually turn and spot a tissue box in the rear seat. I lean in such a way that I come close to him. Swastik tells me he loves the way I smell, that he wanted to tell me so the other evening in the elevator but couldn’t. We keep talking till I start wiping my cleavage with a tissue. He is deliberately driving slowly as the road ahead is somewhat clear. He is dying to look at me out of the corners of his eyes but is unable to. I find that sexy. I keep the tissue on the dashboard. He looks at it as if he would rather be that than a human. I want to burst out laughing but control myself. I know why he is adjusting his legs the way he is. I make some small talk but he finds it difficult to respond with his attention on me. I know he must me itching to stare at my cleavage, but every time he tries to even have a glance I look at him. We reach our housing society. It’s still raining. I guide him to our underground parking lot. I tell him there is an elevator that will take me straight to my floor. I bend forwards to thank him: a final opportunity to have a glimpse of what he had been dying to see. I don’t stand there waiting for him to have his fill. I leave immediately. But while I’m pressing the elevator button, I hear a sound. Swastik has got out of his car. He is heading towards me. There’s an urgency in his walk. Before I can say anything, his lips are on mine, his hands around my waist and mine around his neck. We smooch passionately. His hand slides down to my butt. The way he tightens his grasp on it lets me know that this is only the tip of his passion. As we continue to smooch, a car alarm goes off. Swastik breaks the smooch, takes me to the garage and pushes me between two cars. I know the security guards are there. The alarms must have brought them here. And yet Swastik doesn’t stop. He pulls down my leggings and my panties. I’ve teased him enough. It is time for some pleasurable punishment.’

  But Kratika stops talking and instead starts moaning. Devang is behind her. They were lying sideways. He slowly entered her not able to take his arousal any more. It’s the spoon pose. They are trying it for the first time.

  * * *

  Fourth Weekend

  There was an unprecedented restlessness in Devang that Kratika noticed while they were dining at a nearby restaurant. She wanted to but didn’t tell him about it then. While walking back home, Devang’s pace was more hurried than usual. It was only when they were in bed that Kratika said, ‘I’m sorry I wanted to tell you this before but . . .’

  ‘No!’ The way Devang’s face fell trying to guess what it was, was cute.

  ‘It is. I’m chumming. First day. Already paining a bit.’

  Devang sighed. And with it his lust too dwarfed a bit.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said. Devang had always been understanding, and rarely did a man prioritize his woman’s necessities over his urges.

  ‘It’s crazy what we have been up to,’ she said.

  ‘I know. If someone got to know, we’d be judged harshly.’

  ‘Nobody has to know. But I get what you mean. Even within the four walls of our home, we are still scared of a societal backlash.’

  ‘Seriously! As a couple we decide what works for us and what doesn’t. The objective is to break barriers, some of which inherently exist in a man–woman relationship and some that have been introduced by a patriarchal society.’

  After a few seconds of silence, Devang laughed out loud.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘What if our families in Bhopal got to know what we were up to?’

  ‘One of us will be sent to an asylum while the other will be disowned,’ Kratika said laughing.

  ‘That’s because we can’t live beyond the confines of certain adjectives, I think. Whatever we do needs to be bracketed within one acceptable adjective or another.’

  ‘I’ve thought about it as well. It’s a push-pull effect.’

  ‘As in?’

  ‘The heart pushes us to step out of the moral perimeter that we have drawn for ourselves based on whatever has been fed to us emotionally, morally, socially since birth. The push is because the heart works on our primal instinct. Years of manipulation can subjugate it but not completely tame it. While the mind pulls us back telling us the perimeter is where we belong. The mind is socially trained while the heart is habituated to its primal nature.’

  ‘I like the way you broke it up. Makes sense to me. It makes me also question the rigidity of our sexual nature. I think sexuality is inherently and deeply fluid. Just that there has to be a way forward, progression, nature manipulated us into thinking a man only belongs to a woman sexually. It’s the reproduction angle that is the basis for us to think like that. Maybe rightly so. I don’t know.’

  Kratika looked up at Devang and said, ‘Is this what happens when a couple have exhausting sex every weekend? The philosophers in them pay a visit?’

  ‘Who knows!’ Devang has a sly smile on his face.

  * * *

  Fifth Weekend

  Kratika is brushing her teeth. Although they are non-vegetarians, Kratika can’t kiss after having a meat-based dish. She has to brush and makes Devang brush his teeth as well. He has tried talking her out of it but to no avail. This time Devang gives in without arguing.

  Kratika tries not to look at the two love bites on her bosom. One has faded and the other is in the process. Only she knows how many times her colleagues had inquired about it. In the past five years since she had known Devang this was the first-ever love bite whose essence had been intact for more than a week. She caressed it with her left hand.

  As Kratika gets inside the blanket beside Devang, he lowers the temperature of the AC further. He is already naked. She undresses herself, throwing her nighty and panty on a bean bag in the bedroom. He is smelling nice. She has turned it into a habit of his. To smell good before having sex. It helps Kratika get in the mood. Only he doesn’t know that she’s already in the mood since she saw her love bites in the bathroom minutes ago.

  ‘You know . . .’ Devang starts but Kratika places her palm over his mouth.

  ‘Tonight, I’ll narrate first,’ she says. He nods. He doesn’t know what she has on her mind.

  What if I change the scenario a little bit tonight? What if I make it a little edgy? I’ve been playing the tease for some time now, but what if I play the submissive one tonight? Kratika wonders.

  ‘To imagine your partner being submissive to someone else takes eroticism to a whole new level,’ Devang whispers.

  ‘You remember the night I was out till the wee hours partying?’ she asks.

  He frowns before saying, ‘Yeah, your company was the official travel sponsor for the Indian women’s cricket team or something, right?’

  ‘That’s right. Let me take you there. Placing a fantasy in between a reality is a different kind of high.’

  Devang shifts his legs. Perhaps his loins are on fire already. Kratika closes her eyes.

  Kratika’s Fantasy

  ‘I’m in Taj Vivanta. I can almost hear the loud music, cheering, tapping footsteps, and clinking of glasses. Most of my colleagues and seniors are quite drunk. I’m on my third drink. And in between all the madness, the party chaos and disco lights, I find Swastik’s gaze on me. As if I’m his property that no one else can claim. Till my second drink, I had been playing along furtively. But after gulping down my third drink, I’m staring back at him brazenly. We are digging into each other’s flesh through our eyes. I can sense I’m getting somewhat wet between my legs. And just when I want this to go on forever, he leaves the room. I wonder why. I finish my drink. I try to guess why he left
. About ten minutes later, I see him again. He doesn’t waste time staring and instead directly approaches me. I feel a shiver run down my spine. He whispers into my ears, “I’ve booked a room here. I walk out. You follow. Room number 301.”

  ‘His confidence that I will indeed follow him arouses me. I feel that if I don’t follow him now, not only will I disappoint him but also myself. I go to the bar and ask for my fourth drink. When I’m handed the drink, I finish it in one go. I dash out of the hall, into the elevator and in no time find myself outside room number 301. I knock only to realize the door is ajar. I push it open. Only a lamp next to the windows is on; the rest of the room is in darkness. Swastik is sitting on a chair next to the lamp. He tells me he knew I would come. When a man second guesses a woman’s will, it can go two ways: either the woman can be supremely scared or she is superlatively aroused. Do I even need to tell you which one I am? I take a few steps but he asks me to stop. Then he utters one word and my skin is immediately dotted by goose pimples. “Strip.” I do as I am told. You remember what I had worn that night? A thin strap, white, knee-length dress. So I don’t have to work hard. I only pull down the straps and the dress comes undone. I unhook my white bra. Swastik asks me to stop and come over to where he is sitting. I do as I am told. He asks me to kneel down. He places the tip of his tongue on the nape of my neck and licks me till the end of my spine. He clenches my panty with his teeth and tugs it down.’