Free Acts of Love by Roberta Latow

unhindered by morality or inhibition, to have all fear of losing one’s self in him vanish. He wore his masculinity with a sureness that made not only Arianne but all his women tremble with excitement for more, always much more of him. A libertine who seduced, corrupted if given the chance, he was still the handsomest, most sensual man she had ever seen. One look at him and she was instantly aroused, her body yearning for sexual pleasure with him. Was it possible, she had often asked Jason, for a man to be voluptuous? He had laughed and had always answered her, ‘Yes, and Ahmad is the living proof.’
    Ahmad’s smile warmed her, and she bent forward and placeda tender kiss on each cheek. And then she told him, ‘You’re a lovely surprise.’
    He removed the slip of paper from her hand and replaced it with the box of roses. Then, without detaching his gaze from her eyes, he called over his shoulder to someone and waved the piece of paper in his hand, while he told her, ‘I made a change of plan.’
    ‘The house. It’s perfect. I love it.’
    ‘Good.’
    She wanted to thank him, but it seemed so trite. She could see how pleased he was that she was there and had accepted his gift. Instead she reached out her hand and took his, then led him into the house. She handed back the flowers. ‘Please – for a moment, while I discuss a few things with the mover.’
    Ahmad walked into the sitting room and placed the box on a chair. He opened his coat and went to stand by the fireplace. Arianne liked the house. He felt happy about that. He had enjoyed buying it for her, had known exactly how he wanted it done up – what would make her comfortable and what would be merely fussy.
    He missed her and Jason. Their deep abiding friendship. Their sexual
ménage à trois
. He listened to her giving instructions to the mover: the sound of her voice held his attention, not her words. Still young, fresh, very American, still capable of hiding within it the fire and passion, the sexual hunger he knew she was capable of. In the sexual life she lived with him and Jason, Arianne had found a way of reaching beyond the limits without succumbing to depravity. She was a very sexy lady in love, not a true decadent like himself and Jason. He had always suspected that when Jason was alive, but had never wanted to believe it. But, after Jason’s death, when they spent their first night together imagining that they could pick up the overwhelmingly erotic and passionate life they had once shared so happily, he was forced to accept the truth. It simply did not work for them without Jason. He was Arianne’s love, her decadent soul, and now it was gone. Ahmad could not help but hope that one day she would find another man to love as she had loved Jason. Not for Ahmad’s sake but for hers. So that she could enjoy again the erotic world she had once embraced with him and Jason. Ahmad knew how much she missed it, yearned for it. She deserved that and love andmuch more. Arianne and Ahmad? Without her spontaneous, decadent sexuality, Ahmad had no sexual desire for Arianne, merely a deep abiding affection.
    It had always been a miracle to him that Arianne’s and Jason’s marriage had been so happy, so complete. He loved Jason, and knew him down to the marrow of his bones – how wild, compulsive and passionate, what a natural decadent, he was. The charm and cad in him. Once Ahmad had met Arianne he had understood how she was able to tame Jason. She did it with love. Giving him everything, denying him nothing, not a fraction of her heart, no morsel of her soul. And he loved her and was devoted to her for her selflessness. Soon after their marriage when he gave her to Ahmad, she gave those same things sexually to him. Ahmad had always known that he was an intricate part of Arianne’s and Jason’s marriage, that the attraction of their sexual
ménage à trois
was so powerful it cut off all other avenues that Jason might have wandered down.
    As for Ahmad, he