Adultery by definition is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than a lawful spouse.
Karen had never been the one to follow rules. Not unless they were hers and she hardly followed her own. The one she swore to herself after college that she would follow was to never sleep with a married man. The idea of adultery reminded her of her mother and the last person she wanted to be was her mother. She forced herself not to do it, no matter how tempting it was; she couldn't do it.
The thought of her being adulterous didn't seem to fit the idea now. But it was she who was married and he the other partner. She had someone waiting for her at home, if he was home; if he was even at home. Her partner, logically, wasn't supposed to be there. He wasn't supposed to have been there to deal with her alcohol induced rant. He wasn't supposed to have kissed her to shut her up, full well knowing what she was capable off. Full well knowing what kind of person she was.
It wasn't the sun that woke her up, the room was dark. It wasn't the lack of blankets that caused her to stir, she was covered up completely. It definitely wasn't the soft snoring coming from the person next to her; the person who had his arm wrapped around her waist, cradling her against his chest. It was the realization of who the person was, where she was, and why she was there that caused her to sit up in bed. The arm was slowly pulled away, the hand resting on her lower back, sending shivers up her spine. There was surprising warmth to the gentle touch slowly started to scare her; she liked it and she didn't want to. She couldn't start to like it.
"What time is it?" Her partners' voice was filled with sleep. She jumped as her partner took hold of her hand and quickly pulled it away. "Kare-?"
"I need to go," She said standing up out of bed and quickly searched for her clothes on the floor of her bedroom. "I need to go home,"
"Stay," He pleaded, grabbing her wrist. "You're going to come back in a couple hours anyway."
"We can deal with this later then," She said trying to get his grip to loosen. He pulled her to him and turned her around, her back against his chest. He kissed her shoulder and trailed it up her neck, nudging her cheek a little to give him more access. "Don't do this, not now."
"You love this," He murmured kissing her cheek. The only sound that filled the room was her sharp intake as his hands traveled lower than her stomach.
"You can't do this to me," She turned around and taking a step back. "You can't kiss me every time I get drunk and get me into bed. Just by saying it with you in the room sounds completely foreign to me. You don't sleep with woman."
"I slept with you. You count."
"I shouldn't though. I'm married."
"When did that stop you before?" He asked taking a seat on the edge of the bed watching Karen continue to dress. "You can't keep pulling the marriage card with every guy you sleep with Karen. Some people won't care."
"Right now, I can't deal with this, whatever this is."
"Tell me, right now, that you didn't feel anything last night. Tell me, right now, that when you woke up not too long ago you smiled first. Tell me, that you aren't looking at that door praying that it locks from the outside. You wanted that last night. I saw it in your eyes, Karen. So tell me, right now that you didn't want it and that you're going to go back to your husband telling him how much you love him."
"I can't." It came out barely a whisper. "I can't walk out of here swearing to myself that I'll never see you again. It won't happen. I can't say that last night didn't mean anything to me since I felt like myself for the first time in a long time. And I thank you for that, but I just can't" She was stopped by her partners' hands on resting lightly on her cheeks. The pads of his fingers lightly wiping away the tears that were threatening to fall. His lips were hovering inches above hers and the distance was quickly closed at his request.
It was the warmth that filled her body when he kissed her that forced her into him. She felt his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. He knew her needs; all of them. He knew what she wanted and when she needed it; all the time. He knew her better than anyone else; which scared her and made her happy. She couldn't have handled anyone else touching her the way he touched her. She would have slapped anyone else if they touched her that way after they spent the night together. He was different. He always was different than anyone else on her staff. He was her lawyer; their lawyer, her husband and hers. He wasn't supposed to be mixing work and pleasure; but with her there wasn't an option. His work was his pleasure. At least when it came to Karen.
"You wouldn't have been able to leave here without explaining to Grace why you were here in the first place?" She raised her eyebrow, asking him the silent question of needing a bit of explanation. "Listen," Grace's voice was muffled by the walls but still audible. "You wouldn't have been able to get out without getting interrogated." Karen nodded and looked up into Will's hazel eyes before glancing at the clock; 1:45 am it blinked in red.
She smiled at the time, realizing she had been with him for three hours, half spending exploring each other's bodies, getting to know each other, and the other half sleeping it off, and dealing with what was happening next. She hadn't realized she was paralyzed and her feet stuck to the floor until she felt Will tugging her arm; towards the bed hopefully just to sleep or lay there.
She hadn't realized how perfect his body was. His chest was warm and welcoming, soft enough for a pillow. His arms strong and light enough for a safe cover, a shield against harm. His lips, soft and addicting, the flavor of whatever makes him up more alive on his lips than anywhere else on his body. She realized right than and there, that Will made her happy. No one had ever been able to do that before. There had been a hand full of people who made her semi happy, but nothing like what she was feeling then.
It was unexplainable, but blissfully happy was apart of it. There was a feeling of neediness and lust that filled that space. It was a variety of things that made up this unexplainable feeling. But as long as she laid in his arms, far from the world, she was happy. There wasn't anyone she needed to explain the reason she was in Will's arms fully dressed and him naked. There was no need to explain the reason why she was thinking of the process of which he slowly undresses her, dropping kisses every time a new piece her skin was exposed. She needed to convince herself more than anyone that she was perfectly content in the act of adultery.
Adultery by definition is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than a lawful spouse. Her lawful spouse was just as good as dead to her. He cheated on her, and up until the night before she hadn't cheated on him. It was an excuse to get relieved from all the pent up anxiety she was feeling against her husband. She needed an outlet, someone to relieve her of the pain she felt when her husband would leave her for someone else, someone younger. Instead of finding someone she didn't know, someone she wouldn't ever see again; she found someone she's known for years, someone she sees every day. Relief was a poor excuse for adultery, but it was a damn good one.