RANSVESTIA

She moved closer, her shoulder touching mine, a strand of hair stroking my cheek. "Darling Dorothy," she said, a quiver in her voice. "There's been no one in my thoughts since I met you. Can you even accept me as a man?"

There was such a naive and sincere quality in her voice that I couldn't help myself. I began to giggle. I felt her stiffen and begin to pull away, but I reached out, grabbed her and pulled her close. I kissed her first, feeling her soft body yield instantly to my touch. But then she was onto me, making love to me. I love it. She was so soft, curved, and gentle, and she was all man, when she at last removed her panties. The perfurm of her hair and body was more exciting to me than anything any other man had ever had to offer me. I won't say I fell in love or anything right there, but having Valerie make love to me was the most enjoyable experience of my life. She was also much more experienced and insatiable than I was-everything a woman wants in a man. Now I knew why I'd been so upset at the closeness to Earl and to Natalie. I'd been jealous. From the start, she'd captivated me and that's all there was to it. But I still found it hard, if not impos- sible, to accept Valerie as a man. A man she might be, but she was also Valerie, and Valerie was something different, something else. Sleep when it came was from an ecstatic exhaustion, both of us wound up in each other, hugging and holding each other tightly. We were reluctant to get up, too, finding too much to explore about each other in bed, but at last hunger drove us out and we began to put the world back together again.

It's a very odd relationship we have. When Laura, our oldest daughter was born, we moved out of the apartment to an old, respec- table district. Though our neighbors accepted my tales about Laura's absentee father, they've become quite standoffish now that I'm pregnant again, and showing it. My parents too are irate. They know I'm married but they've never met Terry. They think I'm sleeping with any guy I want and my sister, who knows Valerie lives with me, thinks I'm a lesbian. Valerie isn't what you'd call a devoted father. She still won't wear a pantsuit-not even to the bizarre registry office wedding service we had. I've never seen a man so red and flustered as the clerk who filled out the papers. Natalie was a great help though the ceremonies and at least our marriage gives the kids the security of Valerie's money which is far greater than she ever let on. She's getting richer all the time, too. She begged me to go on location

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