Side Effects May Include Feelings

Roy wasn't entirely sure how his legs were moving, only that Elaine's fingers were twined with his and she was leading him down a hall toward a room that in normal circumstances he would have no business being in. Her hand was small in his, cool from nerves or anticipation or both, but the grip was firm. Intentional.

He'd imagined a lot of strange turns this day could take, but this, finding Elaine kneeling in the living room, dressed as she was, was far from what he had anticipated. In the kitchen, he'd been lost in his thoughts, worried about his work situation, worried about the wish-induced sexual chaos that had now invaded his life. Seeing her had shaken him from all of that, worries as distant as they could be, like stepping out of a stress dream and into a wet dream.

Her bedroom was dim and soft around the edges, curtains pulled just enough to turn afternoon into evening. The bed was huge, impossibly neat, pillows arranged like a catalog photo shoot. He felt like an interloper, like a man spying something that he shouldn't. He also didn't care.

No. Wait. That wasn't true.

Roy cared, but not the way he had anticipated. It suddenly occurred to him, staring at the bed that Elaine and Mark had enjoyed together, that he found it exciting that she was leading him in where he didn't belong. It was hard to admit, but even harder to ignore once he realized it. Being with a woman like Elaine was an incredible experience, but being handed the keys to her heart and her bed by the wish, sneaking in and taking what didn't belong to him, made it even better.

And while he hated himself just a bit for the feeling that he now had to face, he wouldn't have traded the experience for anything in the world.

Besides, what he had said to her in the forest had been true. She was fantastic. The time with her had been great. While physically she was truly out of his league, if he had met her in a different situation, and had he been able to get her to notice him, she would have been exactly the kind of woman he would have fallen for. Beautiful, kind, interesting. He knew it was the wish, but they seemed to hit it off. He wondered if that would be true without magical interference. He wondered if any of this was actually real.

She turned to him, eyes bright, cheeks flushed. Their bodies were close. Roy could feel his heart racing, his adrenaline spiking.

"Come here," she whispered, putting one hand behind his head and leading his lips to her own.

And they kissed. A deep, long, melodic kiss. Not sloppy like in the movies, not greedy like he'd had with Tabitha. No, this kiss was a story of trust, of love, of the hope of a future. And the story was being told both ways.

As they kissed they moved toward the bed. One step, then another, and soon the back of Roy's legs were hitting the mattress. Elaine paused and took a step back.

"Let me," she breathed.

As if she were engaged in some holy ritual, Elaine's hands carefully came up and unfastened each button on Roy's shirt until it hung open, exposing his pot belly. Then she reached up and slid it off of his shoulders, letting it fall onto the bed behind him. Next came his belt, followed by the button and the zipper on his pants. She paused there, staring into his eyes, her expression birthing a flutter of butterflies in his stomach. Not losing her focus on his eyes, she hooked her fingers in the waistband of his underwear and them down, taking his khakis with them. Slowly she dropped to her knees, lifting one foot and sliding it out of the pants, taking off his sock, then repeating the movement with his other foot. Only hesitating to give his erect penis a little kiss, she rose to her feet and took in the image of her boyfriend.

Roy felt both exposed and honoured. Never before had he been treated with such reverence, as if it all meant something, as if his body was important. And by the way her hands began to explore, it seemed that it was. His sexual experiences with Charlotte and Tabitha had been fun and exciting. This, though, felt different. Elaine's hands touched his stomach, the belly that he had never been comfortable with. She rubbed it, then moved her hands to his chest, then his shoulders, then his hair. A look of loving fascination had come over her, as if she were studying a new subject, something that she had recently discovered to be her one true passion.

Wrapping his own arms around her, he kissed her. He couldn't help it. She was so close, so beautiful, and so willing. His heart and his loins were screaming at him in unison to make his move, and so he did. They held each other, two strangers become one couple through magical means, both finding what they needed in the arms of the other.

It was only a matter of time.

Elaine was the one to lean forward, causing Roy to fall backward onto the mattress. He landed with a bounce, his eyes wide, happy to feel the soft comforter beneath him. In a flash Elaine was on top of him. With all the care she had taken to undress Roy, Elaine completely ignored her own clothes. He could feel the softness of her panties rubbing against his erection, a gentle grinding motion, while she leaned forward and kissed him again.

And that did it.

With one hand wrapped around behind her, Roy reached down with the other and slid her panties aside. Then, lifting up his hips slightly, he slid himself inside of her.

"Mmmmmmfffff," she moaned into his mouth, pressing her groin into him, sliding deeper.

"Rrrrrrnnnnngggg," he answered as he began to thrust.

Gone were thoughts of guilt, of consent, of right and wrong. The only things in Roy's universe were Elaine's body and his own. And while they were an unlikely couple, their lovemaking was so natural that an outside observer might have thought that they were made for each other. Beneath this beautiful woman he lay, their hands exploring each other's bodies, joined in a shared mission to find pleasure in each other.

It wasn't complicated. It wasn't awkward. She rode him gently but lovingly, he matched her speed, her movements. Soon enough Elaine began to quiver. The quiver became a shake, then she collapsed onto Roy's chest, still filled with his aching erection.

"Roy," she breathed, "Baby... just give me a second."

Unsure what was happening, Roy froze, his hands on her rear end, **** to keep thrusting, but somehow finding the strength to stop. But he didn't have to wait long.

"Mark was never able to get me off like that," she finally said, kissing his neck. "You know, just with his penis. He always had to use his hands. Or his mouth."

"I... uh..." Roy was unsure how to respond. "I didn't mean to..."

"Oh sweetie, don't worry," she said, pushing herself up and looking him in the eye. "You're perfect. It's me. I shouldn't be bringing up another man, even Mark, in the middle of our lovemaking."

"It's okay," he said, desperately trying to keep from pushing into her. "I get it. You miss him."

Tears welled up in her eyes, then began to roll down her face, raining down on Roy's chest. Even when she was crying, she was beautiful.

"Are you alright? Should we stop?"

"No!" she said almost too quickly. "I'm not crying because of Mark. I'm crying because of you. You, my perfect man, my Roy. How would a woman like me be so lucky to have found love again so quickly and so completely? What did I do to deserve this? To deserve you?"

She began to gyrate on his erection as she spoke, tears still flowing.

"I think about you all the time. How you look. How you feel. I want to be around you, to touch you, to see you. I know I'm grieving, and I know my feelings are all jumbled up, but right now I have one thing in my life that is crystal clear, and that is you, Roy Robinson."

Her grinding grew in intensity. She reached behind her and took Roy's hands from her hips and placed them on her breasts. Then she moaned loudly, a sound that Roy had dreamed his whole life of hearing from a woman in bed with him. The tears had slowed, but they were still there, on that gorgeous face that was radiating joy.

Her hands began to rake their nails down his chest as she moved to the beat of an unheard song. In the past twenty-four hours, Roy had experienced sexual encounters with both Charlotte and Tabitha, but neither had prepared him for this. Not that it was magically artful lovemaking, but because deep inside, what Elaine was feeling for him, he was beginning to feel for her. The sex was wonderful, but it was only a manifestation of the deeper connection that he felt.

Soon enough she began to quiver again, and soon after that he began to feel his own orgasm rise. First came his rapid breathing, then a tightness, then an explosive release, timed perfectly with that of Elaine's. They both groaned loudly, muscles clenched, holding each other frozen in the single-mindedness that comes with a climax, all other elements of the universe vanishing from existence. He filled her. She received him. Was there anything else?

And then it was over. She collapsed onto his chest, his slowly deflating penis sliding out of her, slick with her pleasure mixed with his own. Roy couldn't remember if he'd ever felt so simultaneously wrung out and overflowing with peace. This woman, this incredible, sexy, wonderful woman had done more than make him feel sexually satisfied. She had found a way into his heart, and had planted herself there just as surely as he had planted his seed in her moments earlier.

"That was incredible," she said into his chest.

"Yeah," Roy said, ever the poet.

Gently, she rolled off of him and curled onto her side, head propped on her hand staring at him. She reached over and began to toy with his chest hair with an idle finger.

"I didn't mean to get so emotional," she said quietly. "It's just that I'm so happy. I know I shouldn't be. I should be distraught. Angry, even, about him being gone. But when I'm with you, all that stuff kind of... I don't know... turns down in volume. I can hear it, buzzing in the background, but you're like an orchestra while it's a busker."

"Well I've never been called an orchestra before," Roy chuckled. "Does that mean being with me is the pits?"

There was a beat, then Elaine rolled her eyes and gave him a swat.

"Oh stop it!" she laughed. "You think you're so clever, don't you?"

"I am clever! You just can't Handel it." Now Roy was really feeling proud of himself.

That elicited a loud groan. Not the kind he'd heard from her just minutes earlier, but the kind that told Roy exactly how effective his puns were.

"Okay, okay," she said, smiling. "I surrender. No more."

"Truce," he agreed.

Again silence fell over the couple. Again her fingers trailed down his chest. Was this what it was like for normal couples? Did they have sex then just enjoy each other's presence, no expectations, just closeness?

She spoke again.

"So do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

He turned his head and looked into her eyes. Gone was all expression of lust. Instead, all there was was concern. Genuine concern. She had said it many times that day, but Roy truly believed that she loved him.

And the feeling he was feeling for her, squeezing his heart in his chest... was it love, too?

Silence stretched again, but this time it tasted like permission.

And Roy let go.

He told her about the dread he was feeling around Monday, around going back to work. About Tom waiting at the office like a snake with a memo in its mouth. About the threat hanging over him: quit or be destroyed, career collapsing one accusation at a time.

"It's stupid," Roy said finally. "It's just a job, right? But it feels like everything. Like the one thing I've built for myself, the one good thing in my life, and I'm losing it."

Elaine listened the whole time, eyes fixed on him, hand drifting absentmindedly across his skin in slow soothing circles. She didn't pretend to understand every office nuance. She didn't offer advice.

But she did have one question.

"The one good thing?"

She let it hang there.

"Oh my God," he said, eyes wide. "I didn't mean... I mean... uh... You're..."

She began to guffaw in peals of laughter.

"Obviously you mean besides me, you lunk," she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I get it. It sounds terrible, and Tom sounds like a shit head. I wish I could tell you what to do, or give you a hint, but I have no idea. I mean, I trust you. You're honourable. You're smart. You even have a good pun every once in a while. You'll figure it out."

"Thanks."

"And if you don't," she said, a twinkle in her eye, "you can always move in here."

The words landed somewhere deep in his ribcage where doubt usually lived.

He breathed in.

For the first time all day, the future didn’t feel like a trapdoor.

Elaine leaned forward then, brushing her lips against his shoulder, almost shy despite everything they'd just done.

"So," she whispered, the faint look of hunger sliding back into place, "do you want to go again?"

Roy turned his head toward her.

Of course he did.