1. The perfect plan or How Pedro came to visit Lucy sat at the kitchen table, her fingers lightly tapping against the rim of her coffee cup. This time, she told herself, it will happen. There had been interruptions, close calls, maddeningly bad timing. But tonight? Tonight, her plan would finally work. She took a sip of coffee and thought back to their first meeting at that boring workshop. A cramped conference room, the...

Lucy lay naked on the couch, too tired and lazy to move. Pedro held her from behind, quiet—as if he didn’t want to ruin the moment by saying anything. She had just given herself fully to him for the first time, cheating on her husband right there in their own home. But no, she wasn’t thinking about that. All she felt was the freedom to choose her own pleasure, to let go completely. She thought about how he made her wait,...

Lucy followed the scent of fresh coffee down the hall into the kitchen. Fresh out of bed, she wore her favorite pajama shorts and a loose t-shirt that, in the soft morning light, exposed the firm outline of her small, dark nipples. James stood by the window, dressed for work, mug in one hand and phone in the other. When he looked up, his eyes lingered briefly on her, tracing the careless contours of her clothes. “Morning,...

Lucy leaned her forehead against the cool tile, water cascading down her back. The ache between her legs was immediate, her body responding to memory as much as sensation. Images from the previous night crowded behind her closed eyelids: the run in the park, the crisp air, and the moment she fell a few steps behind James, pretending fatigue. Pedro, moving like lightning, casually closed the distance between them. Their co...

Lucy couldn’t get the phone call out of her mind when Pedro’s calm, commanding voice asked her, “Are you ready?” His unexpected announcement that he could visit that very afternoon sent a rush of anticipation crashing through her. Without hesitation, she called the office to announce she wouldn’t be coming back that day. Back at her place, she took a hot shower and dabbed a hint of perfume. She turned the bedroom lights d...

Lucy was lying naked in her bed, next to a man who wasn't her husband but her lover, Pedro, the man who'd claimed her body and mind in just a few months. Since the first time she saw him, she had decided it was the moment to have an affair, and he was the best choice for it. She had never cheated before, even though she had had opportunities in the past, and doing it felt like being reborn, like pure, intoxicating freedom...

I don’t love your husband, Lucy. I cheated because I love my husband. I truly do, and this makes it sound stupid, I know, but hear me out. Your husband, James, is in reality a weak man hungry for power and frustrated that he could never wield it without limits. He’s the type who’s cruel to those beneath him but sucks up to those above. His ego is a black hole, consuming everything, and I knew that I could exploit it. With...