Donald would return in a couple of hours and Audrey had no wish to see him burdened with a territorial dispute with her husband. “Jeff started all this and now he wants 100% control over me,” she whispered to herself, “And that ship sailed when this ship left port.”
Leaving the bathroom, Audrey found Jeff dressed and out pacing out on the veranda. The sofa bed was closed, although the top sheet hung out and the cushions were on the floor. Audrey left the sheet visible so that the steward would know to change the sheets and she replaced the cushions and sat down.
Jeff entered the stateroom like a charging bear and stood before Audrey with rage in his eyes. “In what universe must I wear a goddamned condom so that my wife can keep her goddamned cunt clean for her boyfriend?”
Audrey met his raging stare with an even gaze and said, “In what universe Jeff? In this universe! Things are changing and the first thing that has to change is that I will be treated with respect or I will not be here. If you wish to discuss something with me, you need to do so in a respectful and courteous manner. I am willing, and even like hearing dirty words during sex but there is a huge difference between words used with me and words hurled at me.
“Listen to me Audrey!”
“No Jeff, listen to me! When you can calm yourself down I will listen to you.”
“But I am really pissed off!”
“Okay but being angry does not convey permission for you to mistreat me; and I will not accept being yelled at. Maybe you should go and take a walk and then come back and talk.”
“Give me a couple of minutes Audrey,” Jeff said and he went out on the veranda and sat down. He sat there for a good ten minutes. Finally, he got up, entered the stateroom and sat down on a chair next to the bed and opposite the sofa-bed. “Ok Audrey, let’s talk. “
“Okay Jeff but the discussion has to remain calm and respectful. I will not be yelled at, cursed at or any of that. I just won’t stay and take that.”
“Okay, I’m sorry about all that before Audrey; I lost it for a few minutes is all.”
“All right Jeff, I’m listening. What is going on with you?”
“First of all, you have to admit that what’s happening here is not what I ‘signed on’ for back when all this started. Being told to wear a condom was very upsetting to me because it seemed a put-down. Your boyfriend gets the best of you and I must walk on eggshells so as not to leave any trace of me inside you. That seems unfair and demeaning of me. I am your husband. Do you understand what I am saying, Audrey? The conditions of your relationship are increasing to a degree that is hurting me.”
“I get that Jeff and I promise you that I have no wish to hurt you. Yes, you are my husband of many years and I love you dearly. No one is saying that you need to wear a condom all the time but on days when I going to be with Donald in a few hours, I am uncomfortable not being, well, fresh for him. As our collective relationships progress, you know that the frequency with which Donald can visit me is limited. Obviously, this trip is an exception and I wanted to make the best of it for all of us.”
“Yeah but…”
“Please let me finish, Jeff. I know that some things are moving fast between Donald and me and we could not have predicted that. It is what it is. He is important to me and I am important to him. That is not to say that you aren’t important, because you are. At the same time, I need for you to accept and respect the fact that we – the three of us – are evolving in directions that no one could have foreseen. We all need to be patient and respectful of each other.”
“Okay, so I’ve gotta make nice-nice with dum-dum, or Don-Dom or whoever he is while he is taking my wife to pound-town in bed and taking over our lives outside the bed.”
“Let’s refocus Jeff. First – and I mean this – ‘Don-Dom’ – or any other pejorative name for Donald is out of bounds. I love that man and it hurts me to you put down. I will not have it!”
“Sorry, I …”
“Jeff whether Donald and I are making love or fucking like villains, it is sex and sex is a respectable thing. I want our sex respected just as I want the sex between you and I respected. It is crucial that you understand and accept that. In fact I want more from you than acceptance; I want you to embrace it.”
“I will work on that. Maybe what’s got me rattled is this collar business. You intend to wear a collar like his slave and that it is like wearing his wedding band. Well what about my ring on your finger and yours on mine? Do they not count anymore?”
“Of course they still matter, Jeff. You are my husband. I am your wife. Nothing changes in that area.”
“But the power structure changes drastically, if your boyfriend – may I call him that? – is the guy making decisions for you. He is replacing me in our bed and in our marriage.”
“Maybe I could have worded some of that better,” Audrey began. It is not my intention, nor is it Don’s to push you out of the marriage between you and me. I think you have to admit that Don has treated you with pleasantness and respect, even though you haven’t always been so nice towards him. Again, everything is evolving to god-knows where, but I do not want to lose you as a husband. Jeff, can we – can you – please just take all this more slowly and see how it plays out? “
“Are you going to tie my balls to a chair again?”
Smiling broadly, Audrey said, “Oh I am pretty certain that you liked having your balls tied down and that watching us through a mirror was an exciting bit of kink. I also know that you came at least three times that night. I’m the one who cleans, remember?”
“Uh, okay, you have me there and I did like it. Maybe you could tie me like that again someday?”
“I’d like that my husband, my jealous, long-suffering husband.”
The atmosphere in the stateroom changed suddenly as anger and discomfort seemed to melt away and replaced by more playful, teasing banter.
“So, husband, you want your balls tied while you watch me have sex with another man?”
“Yes. It shames me to say it, but yes.”
“Shhhhh, there is no room in our lives for shame,” Audrey said gently.
She got up and moved to the smallish closet and removed one of her jogging shoes. Walking provocatively in bumps and grinds towards the bed she began removing the lace from the shoe. Audrey, tugged and loosened the string, one eyelet at a time with a cadence not unlike a stripper would use while doffing garments.
“Sooooo Baby, you wanna tie your balls for me? Hmmm? Will you tie them?”
“Tie them to what, Aud?”
“Just tie your scrotum snugly above your balls right there where you are sitting and pretend you are on the chair at my dressing table looking through the mirror. With the shoe lace fully removed now, Audrey twirled it several times. Then she held the lace in thirds spanning the taut nipples now straining against her blouse. The free ends she twirled like tassels. Audrey’s eyes locked onto Jeff’s and his were fully trained on her.
“Okay, my husband, here is what is going to happen. I have no more condoms right now but I am going to make this experience good for both of us.” Handing him the shoe lace Audrey told her husband, “Take this shoe lace. Feel it. Smell it, be close to it, because I am going to go put the ‘do not disturb’ placard on the door. Be ready for anything when I get back.”
Audrey sat on the bed close to Jeff and announced, “Jeff, we are back in our bedroom at home and your balls are tied to the chair. You enjoyed watching Donald and I didn’t you?
“Well…”
“Did you enjoy it? Don’t mince words my husband, we need to be honest with each other, did you enjoy it or not?
“Yes, Aud, I enjoyed you.”
“So you enjoyed seeing me with Donald.”
“Yes.”
And you enjoyed watching he and I have sex?”
“Yes.”
“And it excited you to watch us through the mirror.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me; what excited you, what specific pleasures made you hot?”
“So many,” Jeff answered.
“Tell me, husband. Tell me what parts of seeing your wife with another man in our marital bed did you find the most exciting.”
“At first, I wasn’t excited, I was angry. I never imagined that you would take him into our bed.”
“Okay, but you never imagined that I would tie your balls to a chair seat either.