The Last Day at My Landlords’ House

I woke up around six in the morning to a muffled noise coming from the back of the hallway. It wasn’t just any noise. It was a rhythmic creaking of the bed frame, a breathless panting, a murmur I recognized at once even though until that dawn I had never really heard it before. I had been staying in that house for barely two days, lodged with a couple who rented me the guest room while I finished my first year at university, and I still could hardly believe what I was about to discover.

I got out of bed without thinking. I had slept naked since the night before, because they had told me laughing that in that house nobody was shy, and I walked barefoot down the hallway with my heart pounding in my chest. The door to the master bedroom was half open. A strip of gray light came in through the window and fell right across the bed.

And there they were.

Marcos lying on his back, and Elena on top of him, riding him with an intensity that stole my breath. Both of them naked, shining with sweat, completely surrendered. She moved slowly and then fast, arching her back, dropping herself onto him again and again. I froze in the doorway, not knowing whether to step back or stay. And I stayed.

I don’t know how long I stood watching. Long enough for my own arousal to betray me, hard and obvious, while I stroked myself without even realizing I was doing it. I moved closer to the bed from the side, as if drawn by something stronger than prudence. Elena turned her head, looked at me without flinching, and with one hand signaled for me to bend down toward her.

I kissed her. Our tongues met in a long, deep kiss that had nothing shy about it. Marcos, without stopping his movements beneath her, stretched out a hand and took me with it, stroking me slowly while she kept riding him. I had never felt anything like it. It was a mix of desire, amazement, and a strange calm, as if all of it were the most natural thing in the world.

—Get here —Marcos said quietly, pointing to a spot on the bed—. So Elena doesn’t have to let your mouth go.

I obeyed. I positioned myself so I could keep kissing her while I held her breasts in my hands. I caressed them slowly and felt them harden under my fingers. She moaned against my mouth, and that sound drove me crazy.

***

At some point Marcos said he couldn’t hold out any longer in that position, and we switched without hurrying, as if we had rehearsed it a thousand times. Elena lay on her back and I positioned myself over her. I entered her carefully, sinking in slowly, and discovered a new pleasure, unlike anything I had known in my few previous experiences. I moved with her calmly, without rushing, while she stroked my face and kissed me.

—Like that, keep going like that —she whispered in my ear—. You’re giving me so much pleasure.

Marcos had reclined beside us and was brushing my back with the tips of his fingers, watching us with a calm smile. When he got tired of watching, he suggested we change again. Elena got on top of me, and while she rode me, Marcos settled himself behind her. I heard her hold her breath and then let it out in a long moan when he entered her from behind. Elena pressed herself against my chest, trapped between the two of us, and we stayed like that for what felt eternal and at the same time brief.

I felt I could no longer hold back. I came inside her with such intensity that I was left shaking. We separated slowly, and Marcos went on a while longer until he finished too, both of us breathing hard and with our legs weak.

The three of us ended up lying on the bed, tangled together, the ceiling spinning above our heads.

—Well? —Elena asked, resting her chin on my chest—. Did you like it?

—More than I can explain —I answered, and it was true—. These two days have awakened in me a desire to do it again that I didn’t know I had inside me.

—Us too —they said almost at the same time, and the three of us laughed.

***

We got up and showered together, the three of us squeezed into the bathroom, soaping each other’s backs and shoulders amid jokes. There was something so simple about that gesture, so unceremonious, that it made me feel part of something. Once we were dry, we went to the kitchen to have breakfast. Coffee, toast, the morning light coming in through the window.

—I would never have imagined something like this —I told them, cup in my hands—. I’ve never felt so light. So truly happy.

Marcos gave me a pat on the shoulder and Elena winked at me. I got dressed, gathered my things, and headed off to the university, not without first thanking them and giving each of them a kiss.

On the way I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky I had been to end up in that house, with those people. I walked down the street wearing a foolish smile, and when I got to the classroom I greeted my classmates with a cheerfulness that was anything but usual for me, a boy who was rather quiet and reserved.

—What’s gotten into you? —one of them asked—. You’re acting strange, you’re in a fantastic mood.

—I got some good news —I lied, partly—. It changed my mood.

The chemistry professor arrived and started class. And for the first time in a long time, I understood everything. The subject, which the day before had seemed like an impenetrable wall while my mind wandered elsewhere, suddenly made sense. I didn’t miss a single explanation. I even dared to raise my hand and ask a question.

—Very good —said the professor, pleased—. Take notes and do as your classmate did: when you have a question, ask. That way I leave happy knowing you’re paying attention.

I felt proud of myself, as I hadn’t for months.

***

When class ended, I returned to the house rejoicing in everything I had lived through, and it showed in my body just from remembering it. The table was set, as every day. We sat down to eat and they asked me how my day had gone.

—Very well —I replied—. I’ve been relaxed, I understood everything. I’m happy.

—That makes us glad —Marcos said—. You can tell when someone has taken the weight off their shoulders.

We finished eating and I went into the bedroom to study with a desire I didn’t remember ever having. I underlined my notes, did exercises, reread the material from the morning. Around six in the evening, Elena called me from the living room.

—Want to come out for a snack?

I went out and found her alone. I asked where Marcos was.

—He has an appointment at the shop for the car inspection —she said—. He won’t be back until eight.

She was wearing a robe, still warmed through from having taken the sun on the terrace. She came over to me with that natural ease of hers I was already beginning to know.

—Do you feel like doing something to pass the time? —she asked.

—Of course —I answered, and I noticed my voice came out rougher than usual—. I’m at your disposal.

She took me by the hand and led me to the sofa, where she had already spread out a towel. Then I realized she had been waiting for me. We sat down and, slowly, I slid my hand under her robe, searching for her breasts. She let me and spoke into my ear in a warm whisper.

—What luck that you ended up with us —she told me—. We’re opening you up to things you never even imagined because of shame, and that’s good for all of us.

I nodded without words. I was stroking her breasts while I devoured her mouth, thrilled, completely aroused. She noticed and slid her hand over my shorts. I had learned from them and wasn’t wearing anything underneath. She stroked me gently, without squeezing, until I couldn’t take it anymore, stood up, and unfastened my shorts, which fell to my feet.

I was now level with her mouth. She leaned down and took me between her lips, slowly, teasing, pausing, running her tongue over me while one hand stroked me and the other explored lower, boldly. I trembled with pure anticipation.

—Do you want me to make love to you? —I asked her, my voice broken.

—I’m dying for it —she answered, and lay back on the sofa.

I positioned myself over her and penetrated her slowly, all the way in, going in and out without haste but without stopping. It was the best of pleasures. She nibbled at my neck and I shivered with every movement. We kept at it until I felt her tense, arch, and come apart in a long orgasm that ran through her from head to toe.

I leaned over her and kissed her slowly, catching our breath together. I still hadn’t finished, so she brought me back, taking me once again in her mouth, until I came and she stayed still, clinging to my waist.

***

We lay on the sofa, tangled together, while evening faded behind the curtains. I remembered some verses I had read as a boy and recited them softly to her, almost in her ear:

“That night I ran the finest road of all, mounted on a pearl-colored filly, without bridle and without stirrups.”

Elena smiled and stroked my hair. Nothing more needed to be said.

That is how what I truly wanted to tell comes to an end. The days kept passing, the classes, the exams, the three of us sharing dinners, the afternoons stretching out. I passed the year with a grade I hadn’t expected. But the important thing wasn’t the grades. It was that that house, and that couple, changed me from within. I became more self-assured, more open, more capable of looking people in the eye. I discovered my full sexuality just when I thought shyness would define me forever.

I hope you enjoyed reading this confession as much as I enjoyed remembering it. Thank you for making it to the end.