The Other Man (The Other Man Series Book 1) (4 page)

I thought it was a good suggestion. I was apparently wrong. She scrambled from the bed, giving me a sexy little flash of her ass for the second time that day - definitely not for my benefit though. Swinging around, her eyes shot flames in my direction.

“
You think I need to get a hobby because my husband won’t fuck me?
” She screeched and the sound travelled straight through me. “You’re...ugh, you’re a prick, Blake.
Listen to me
, I’m telling you something is missing these days. Answer me one question, when was the last time I laughed?”

Her random question had me stumped. How was supposed to answer that? My blank look must have told her everything she needed to know.

“Don’t you see? This isn’t a marriage anymore, Blake. I love you, I always have but this isn’t healthy. Are you just not attracted to me anymore? Is that it?”

I fought the eye-roll that threatened to escape. Women. Completely and utterly crazy.

“Don’t ask stupid questions, Carlie. That won’t get us anywhere.”

“Get anywhere.
Get anywhere?
You’re forgetting that this is YOU, Blake. Unless it’s your idea, your choice or your decision, we
never
get anywhere. I don’t make idol threats, you know this, but I can’t live like this anymore.”

My eyebrows shot to my hairline and my heart stopped beating, “So what exactly are you saying, Carlie. This day, the day that I hit the height of my career, the thing I’ve worked for all my life, you’re telling me...what? That you want to leave me? Divorce me?”

Her shoulders slumped like they were carrying the weight of the world.

“Not exactly. You think I want to leave you? That I’d rather be a thirty-three year old divorcee? Of course not. I’m just saying that things need to change, Blake. They
have
to.”

“So let’s go on a date or something. It’s really not as terrible as you seem to think, babe. Just tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

Her eyes remained sad, but her lips tipped up at the corners, “I shouldn’t have to tell you, and I guess that’s the point. But if you’re willing to try, then so am I,” she hit the bed and snuggled back under the covers, sliding her arm across my stomach in the same movement. “I love you, Blake. No matter what, for better or worse, right? We’ll get through this.”

With my heart feeling heavy and confusion swirling in my brain, I kissed her forehead and repeated her words back to her.

“I love you too, pretty baby. For better or worse.”

“Harder, Blake.”

I sped up my thrusts, feeling beads of sweat run down my back. I gripped her thighs in my palms and held them against my chest, ploughing into her slick pussy over and over.

“Please honey,
give it to me harder,
” she whimpered.

“Fuck,” I pushed deeper. “Any fucking harder and I’ll break you!”

Curling her feet around my neck, she growled, “Fuck me, Blake. Hard, fast, brutal. Fuck me, break me and make me
yours.
I need to feel like you to own me again.”

At the reminder of the night before, because I knew she was doubting us, I became desperate. I pinched each nipple between thumb and forefinger, twisted and pulled. Her back arched, her pussy clamped down around my cock and a long moan escaped her parted lips.

Sorry neighbours, but a man has a job to do.

Moving one hand to her throat, I squeezed lightly as I kept pounding into her, “You
are
mine. You’ve been mine since the day you said ‘I do,’ and you’ll be mine for
fucking
ever.”

My balls tightened, my rhythm faltered, but I breathed out, “I will never let you leave me.”

Eyes glazed over, hair sticking to her damp forehead and skin flushed pink, Carlie had never looked so fucking gorgeous. She bit down on her bottom lip, closed her eyes and clenched thighs as her orgasm washed over her. I thrust deep and let go of her legs, lowering myself over her. My cock throbbed and I emptied myself inside her.

“That was…”

“I know,” I agreed. There were no words.

“Te echaba de menos, Blake.
I missed you
. I know this doesn’t fix us, but at least we know that we’re still here somewhere.”

With nothing else to say, I just smiled down at her, then sat back on my calves. Glancing at the clock, I was going to be pushing it to get to work on time. I patted Carlie on the hip and told her I loved her, then shrugged into my shirt and slacks. About to do my tie in the mirror, I noticed Carlie still hadn’t moved.

“You just going to lie there all day?” I joked, knowing she was probably going to head to the gym before work.

She sighed, looking wistful, “No, just thinking.”

“Oh dear,” I laughed.

She wrinkled her nose at me, but dragged herself up from the bed, groaning with the movement.

“Maybe there is nothing wrong with us, maybe we are just getting too old to be doing it like that now!”

“Speak for yourself! I’m about to go and do a twelve hour shift, I’ve got this. I’m not old.”

She grinned, looking so much like the Carlie I married, “That’s what you think!”

I whipped her lightly with my tie and scowled before turning back to the mirror. We finished getting ready in comfortable silence. I left the house with a smile on my face and feeling better than I had in months. If an early morning fuck and five minutes of conversation was all she needed to be happy, I could give that to Carlie. With pleasure.

So why did I still have that feeling of unsettlement in the pit of my stomach?

I chose to ignore it.

My phone bleeped with a text alert within an hour of being at work. Not that this was unusual of course, it wasn’t. Carlie’s name flashed on the screen.

Carlie:
Do you think it’s weird that we don’t have children?

My eyebrows rose. Was it weird that we didn’t have children? No, not really. Was it weird that in twelve years of being together, ten of those married, we’d never spoken about it for any length of time? Definitely. The fact that she’d thrown it out there in a text message, put me on edge. I figured the conversation deserved a phone call. She answered on the third ring.

“Hi, honey.”

“Why would you text me that?”

She gave me a nervous giggle, “I don’t know. It’s weird don’t you think? Maybe that’s what we’re missing. We’re in our thirties now and we don’t have to do the school run, go to PTA meetings. We don’t have any drawings on the fridge or badly painted Christmas tree decorations. I just started thinking about it, maybe we should start trying for a baby.”

My blood pressure started to rise, I was more than aware that I had to be really careful with how I responded.

“Carlie, this isn’t the right time to talk about this darling. We will soon though, ok?”

“Oh,” she paused. “Oh right, of course. You’re at work, silly me! We’ll talk about it when you get home later.”

“No...I,” I jumped in before she could hang up. “Honey, I don’t mean later. I mean, you’re right, we need to make things right with
us
first, before we talk about babies or whatever, ok?”

The silence from the other end of the line stretched on. I prompted her to speak.

“Sure. Right, yeah, sure, ok. Talk to you later.”

She hung up.

I fought the urge to bang my head against the desk. One step forward, two steps back. It felt like someone had flicked a switch in her brain and now everything had to be done at either warp speed, or not at all. I started to realise that it wasn’t just about me failing her as a husband anymore. It still played a part; a huge part, I suspected, but it wasn’t just that. With a sigh, I made the decision to put it all to the back of my mind and concentrate on work.

With four home visits and two school talks, the day dragged on and on until, for once, I couldn’t wait to get home. Technically speaking, I didn’t have to attend the visits, but the thought of sitting in an office all day just made me tense. It wasn’t going to happen. Instead, I watched the guys talk through home safety with two elderly couples and two young families, then tortured myself at the schools. Who knew teenage kids were such vile creatures?

So to say I wasn’t in the best of moods when I arrived home is a slight understatement. Never a good thing when tensions are already high. Thankfully, though I knew I shouldn’t feel that way, Carlie wasn’t home yet. I just needed the quiet, the solidarity, to think about everything that was happening and why.

I stood under the shower, my head leaning against the tiles wondering how I’d gone from being the luckiest guy in the world to feeling like I had the weight of the Earth on my shoulders. Had I missed the signs? Was it really as sudden as it seemed? Too many questions. I didn’t have the answers and really, I couldn’t be sure that Carlie did either. She seemed so up and down. Happy, then upset. Calm, then angry. It was messing with my mind.

Hearing the front door close, I knew it was time to face this head on. No more craziness. I quickly towel dried and stepped out of the bathroom, tying the towel around my waist. Carlie stood on the landing and attempted to push past me. Blocking her with my arm, I kissed her cheek.

“Hello my darling wife, how was your day?”

“Fuck off, Blake,” she snapped, then slammed the bathroom door.

That went well.

I scrubbed my hands down my face, moved to our bedroom and threw on some joggers. Life wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. Feet stomping down the hall alerted me to her presence and I sucked in a slow breath. Time to try again.

“Honey…”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Blake. So you don’t want kids, fine, whatever, you still should have told me that sooner. There’s no point discussing it now.”

She slammed the wardrobe doors and whirled away from me, “We’ll just...carry on as we are.”

“I never once said I didn’t want kids, Carlie. You’re overreacting again. Do you really think this, this
thing
between us is going to get any better, by bringing a child into the world? I’m just saying we need time, honey. I’m not saying never.”

“How much time, Blake? A year, two...five? Time isn’t on our side with this. My biological clock is ticking!”

I paused, getting nowhere with the conversation. The something occurred to me.

“Why do you want this so much, so quickly? You’ve hardly mentioned kids in the last ten years and now we need to get started straight away, why?”

“I’m getting old!” She cried, throwing her hands up. “Women are supposed to have babies and families and, and, I don’t know!”

I knew my smile was sad when I replied, “Exactly, Carlie. You don’t know. We can’t make life changing decisions on a whim. Whatever this is, whatever is making you so unhappy, we’ll fix it first. I promise you. When you figure out what it is that you need, I’ll do it for you. Wherever you want to go, whoever you want to see, fuck! Absolutely anything, Carlie. I’ll get it, do it, find it and fix it. I just want my wife back, ok?”

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled. I never could deal well with a woman crying, “Don’t do that! Don’t cry!”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I just don’t know what’s wrong with me! My head is all over the place, Blake. You’re right, I know you’re right but it’s not as simple as just asking for something. Especially when I don’t know what that something is.”

I pulled her into my arms. Honestly, I was starting to agree with the majority of the male sex. Women truly are crazy.

“How about, and hear me out...you just stop worrying about it? Whatever it is, will work itself out, yeah? Just remember, I love you, and we’ll make this work.”

She sighed, “I love you too, babe. And I’m sorry.”

Crisis averted. For now.

“Blake…”

“I’m right here, Carlie.”

It was a week after the last drama and things had been blessedly content, almost suspiciously so. Carlie was smiling, whistling around the house and touching me at every opportunity. She just seemed almost
too
happy. It was better than complaining about every breath I took though, so I just left it alone.

“I’ve been thinking about something, and you can say no,” I cut her off with a laugh.

And here it comes.

“You really shouldn’t tell me I can say no before you’ve even said what you want.”

I thought she would laugh, she didn’t. Her face was a mask of nerves, with a weird undercurrent of excitement. Call me curious, I needed to know what that was all about.

“Shoot, what’s up?”

“I had this idea, and call me crazy,”
never a good sign.
“But I really think maybe it could be fun, and it’s something I want to try.”

“Ok…” I said slowly, hinting at her to go on.

“What do you think about, I mean, how would you feel, if we, maybe,”

“Jesus, Carlie! Spit it out!”

“I want to have a threesome.”

Whoa. Well I wasn’t expecting that. Flashes of pornographic images crossed my vision and my cock twitched. Silently reminding myself that I wasn’t supposed to be a horny teenage boy anymore, I frowned at her.

“It’s an… interesting idea, babe. But, and please don’t take this the wrong way, you can get a little jealous sometimes. Just last week when we were shopping and that woman asked me to grab her something from the top shelf, you were in a bad mood for hours afterwards and I hardly even spoke to her!”

“That’s not true! I was in a bad mood because I was standing
right there
and she stared at your ass the whole time!”

I tilted my head and gave her a look, “Even so, she was just looking. I didn’t do anything wrong and you gave me the silent treatment for a good few hours.”

“I was just mad. I wasn’t mad
at you
, just mad in general!” She explained, as if that made it any better.

“Exactly! Say we do this, how are you going to feel if I touch another woman, if she touches me? I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Really, my brain was screaming at me that I was passing up on a huge opportunity, but there was this niggling thought in my mind that actually, I didn’t even
want
to touch another woman. I was married for god sake! Look, but don’t touch. That was a rule that I’d learned to live by.

“No, that wasn’t what I…”

I interrupted, “Babe, seriously, it’s really not a good idea.”

“Blake! Will you listen? I didn’t mean with another woman, I meant with another man.”

Wait, what?

My jaw dropped. She couldn’t be serious. No way, no how, was I letting another man in our bed.

“Are you crazy? You must be, certifiably crazy. There’s no way I’m doing
that!
”

Her hands came up in a placating gesture, “I know, I know. It does sound crazy, but think about it. I’m not asking you to touch him or anything. I’m just...well, I just thought that it would be fun.”

“You’re basically stood there telling me that I should be ok with my wife wanting to fuck another guy! How could you ever think that I would be ok with this?”

“That’s not…”

“No, no,
no
. It’s not going to happen. I can’t...I just don’t even believe you’d ask for that! I’m going to work, I’ll see you later.”

“Blake…”

I left the house shaking my head. The hit to my ego was only slightly less painful than the thought of Carlie with another man. Days before, she’s asking me if I don’t find her attractive anymore, then she’s basically telling me I’m not enough for her. Talk about a mind-fuck.

I still hadn’t shook the negative thoughts by the time I got to the station, the guys picked up on it instantly.

“Hey, Bossman! Who pissed in your Cornflakes?”

“Fuck off, Marc. Haven’t you got a pole that needs shining?”

Grabbing his crotch, he leered at me jokingly, “Damn right. Damn, fucking, right!”

I cracked a smile and rolled my eyes as I shook my head. No matter how old we are, men will always turn into fifteen year old boys when there is the potential for a dick joke. Don’t let anyone tell you any differently.

“Get your hand off your dick and get to work!”

He mock saluted, “Yes, sir!”

Slouching down into my office chair, I frowned when I realised that, again, within five minutes of being at the station, I was happy. It was my comfort zone, the place I was in charge and I loved the guys. Maybe Carlie had a point, my attachment to work just wasn’t healthy for our marriage, but it worked for me. Did I really have to sacrifice one for the other?

I couldn’t change who I was, that much I was sure of. I wasn’t all that big on compromising with it either. My job paid the bills, paid for our holidays and the majority of our lives. Carlie worked, but she kept that pay check for herself. Her gym membership, hair, nails, and new clothes every week, she had to pay for them somehow. I didn’t resent it, or I hadn’t, until then. Couldn’t she see how unreasonable it was to complain about the one thing that kept her living the good life that she had become accustomed to?

She was a daddy’s girl. Her dad, Roy, would hit the roof if he thought I was not ‘providing’ for his little girl. Frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I liked being the main earner. Call me sexist, but a man should look after his woman. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not stuck back in the 1940’s or anything, I didn’t care that she worked and I didn’t expect dinner on the table the minute I got home. She did her own thing and I loved that.

I just liked being the man of the house.

So her asking me to allow another man into our lives, into our bed, no. I just couldn’t do it.

Work flew by without major incident. Admittedly, I hung around longer than I needed to at the end of my shift because I just couldn’t face what was waiting for me at home. I was dreading any form of conversation. Unfortunately, I had to leave at some point though.

Soft music played from the direction of the kitchen when I entered the house and I followed the sound, hoping and praying Carlie had forgotten all about her ridiculous ideas. The table was set, candles were lit and Carlie sat at the end of the table with a shy smile touching her lips.

“I made dinner,” she explained, needlessly.

“I can see that,” I said slowly, wondering if this was her way of softening me up to her plans. I threw my bag down on the counter and sat opposite her at the table.

“I’m sorry about this morning, I don’t want to argue with you anymore, Blake.”

I shook my head, “I’m not arguing. You should have known before the idea even entered your head that I would say no.”

“I just think it could be fun, Blake! Something new and exciting. This could really help
us
come closer together.”

My fork hit the plate with a clatter and Carlie jumped. The gorgeous chicken casserole suddenly tasting like sour milk in my mouth.

“It
could
be fun. It
could
be new and exciting. It
could
help us be closer together. Funny Carlie, that sounds suspiciously like you’re still thinking about doing it.”

She swallowed, “I am, Blake. I was speaking to the owner of the gym and he was saying…”

“Stop,” I interrupted, shoving my chair back and standing. “Not only did I say no, I clearly told you that even the idea makes me feel sick and I have absolutely no intention of doing anything of the kind and you have
still
been making plans with some vain asshole from the gym? Are you out of your fucking mind? What the fuck?”

“It isn’t like that! I was just talking! He was just saying…” I broke in again.

“Oh I bet I know exactly what he was saying, bet I know what he was thinking too. Bored wife looking for a little side action. You’re beautiful, Carlie. You know that and
he
knows that. He was probably thinking he’ll convince you to try for a threesome and knowing that any straight man in his right mind would say no, the seed is already planted for you. Won’t take much effort to convince you that a quick fuck on the side wouldn’t hurt. Who’s ever going to know?”

“You’re wrong! He’s not that guy! He’s a friend and he was just trying to help. Trust me, he doesn’t need to play games to sleep with people, Blake. He’s had sex with half the members at the gym!”

My eyes bulged. Could she really not see that she’d just explained exactly the point I was making. She dropped her head to stare at the table.

“I know how it sounds but he’s just, I don’t know, open about that stuff. But he’s a good person, Blake. He’s been like therapy or something, for me. He doesn’t make moves, he doesn’t touch me and he doesn’t even flirt! He wants to help!”

“Wait, wait, wait, have you
asked
him to do this?”

She bit her lip, it should have been sexy, but my blood was way past boiling and I had no reaction.

“Sort of,” I opened my mouth to cut in, but she kept talking. “No, wait, let me explain. I just said I liked the idea and he said to give him a call if we wanted to do it. That’s all.”

“That’s all?
That’s all?!
Fucking hell, Carlie! You are completely unbelievable. How can you not see how selfish you’ve been? How do you think it affects
me
to know that you’ve been telling some other guy about our sex life - or lack of? This guy must think he’s onto a right winner with you.”

She stood too and crossed the room to stand in front of me, “For the last time. He’s not like that. I just needed someone to talk to, Blake! And he was there for me! You’re making out like I’m cheating on you!”

“On me? No. But you’ve definitely cheated on our relationship, on our trust. Just because you say you haven’t done anything wrong, yet, doesn’t mean that’s true. You betrayed my trust and you’ve allowed this guy to lay all his groundwork. Don’t deny it because it’s fucking true.”

Instead of replying, she stepped closer, her tits touched my chest and I inhaled.

“What are you doing?” I breathed out.

“I would never betray you, Blake. You’re my husband and I love you,” her hand snaked out to cup my cock behind my trousers. “He doesn’t have me, you do. I own this cock, and you own my pussy. That’s the way it is and the way it’ll always be.”

Fuck, she was playing me and I was going to fall for it.

“This isn’t about having sex with someone else, clear that from your mind,” considering I was pretty much incapable of thinking about anything other than the way her hand was curling around my cock, I could do that. “This is about
us
. About us trying something new, sharing a new experience, learning more about each other, exploring our sexual boundaries. I want to do this, Blake. Let’s do it, just try, I think it might open your eyes. If I didn’t think you’d love this, that this would be something incredible for
both
of us, then I wouldn’t have even thought about it. I certainly wouldn’t have suggested it to him
or
you.”

Without giving me chance to respond, not that I could have, she pushed up onto her toes and kissed me. I didn’t need any persuasion, my tongue swept in and her sweet mouth consumed me. We fought for control, the twist of her tongue matching mine, the grind of her hips driving me insane. She grabbed one of my hands and smoothed it along her thigh, delving under her skirt and I growled when I found her already wet.

“Imagine it, Blake,” she whispered. “Imagine this, right now, but he’s here, he’s watching. He wants what’s yours. You get to tease him and drive him insane with jealousy because he knows he’ll never have it. He’ll beg, he’ll tell you how hot this is and how much he wishes he could touch us. What better way to tease, Blake? You’ll tell him he can come closer, that he can have a single taste but he needs to remember that I don’t belong to him. Because I’m yours, right? Only yours. Maybe you’ll let him touch me here,” her hand pushed my fingers deeper. “Or maybe only you can do that but he wants the taste, Blake. You’ll push your fingers into his mouth and let him suck them clean. It’s so hot, I’ll be on fire and it’ll be too much. I’ll drop to my knees and suck your cock while he licks my taste off your fingers. Imagine it, Blake. Can you see it? That’s just the start.”