"Christ! You've got it all worked out haven't you," Sue said, looking surprised.
"I'm known for my planning at the bank," I lied, "and it's about time that I got more involved with the kids. It's something I have missed with my early mornings and late nights."
It was true; I had missed out on their growing up and it felt like a good idea for me to look after them more than I had before. I was now getting used to the idea and suddenly I felt good about what the future would be, even if it meant my cuckolding, if only for a few days on that lovely warm island.
I had seen Raoul, Clare and Marcus go down to the beach earlier and had taken up three beds down by the water's edge. They looked as if they were settled in for a day of swimming and sunbathing so I had plenty of time to hatch my plan.
It was about an hour later that I suggested to Susan that I should take the kids back to the room for a sleep because the heat was making them tired and irritable; I also told her that perhaps it might be a good idea for her to have a swim in the sea to cool down while we were gone.
"Okay," she answered readily, "but come and get me if they need anything." And with that she rose up from her sunbed and walked down to the beach and stopped to test the temperature of the water about ten yards from where Raoul was sitting on his sunbed. I knew, as did Susan, that he would not fail to notice someone as beautiful as her; as would any red blooded straight male.
Raoul rose up from his sunbed to watch as Susan walked out into the surf and swam away from the shore. He stood and then briefly glanced up towards the pool where I was collecting the children and waived; whereupon I waived back and smiled. I have never asked him if he took my positive response to his greeting as an implied consent to join my Wife in the sea, but that is what he did. Within a minute he was alongside her and her bright and welcoming smile told him, and me, that his company was welcome.
As the children slept in the cool bedroom I made my way, accompanied by a cold beer, onto the balcony of our apartment. While I sat in the shade I had a wide view of the pool, the beach, the sea and the small headland just half a mile away. The suite had not been cheap so Susan and I had insisted that we had a sea view, which was a decision I was beginning to realise had even more advantages.
Susan is a good swimmer and, I could see, so was Raoul. A quarter of a mile from the beach their heads looked like two small dots on the azure blue of the sea; they had stopped and were treading water as they talked animatedly and I imagined that I could hear Susan's laughter from across the water.
'What are they talking about,' I wondered. 'Perhaps he is telling her how beautiful she is and that he would like to enjoy her beauty more intimately and perhaps she is saying yes? Or possibly, she was telling the handsome black stud that she was looking for a 'replacement' and he fitted the bill perfectly. Was that it? Was she telling Raoul about our arrangement?'
The two heads started to move slowly back to the beach and as their faces became clearer I could see the look on Susan's face - they were not talking but she was smiling. It was the kind of smile a Woman has when she has been told something intimate and has been asked a question to which she has replied 'yes'.
Nearer to the shore the bottom sloped upwards and the pair were able to stand and walk towards the beach together - hand in hand. They were holding hands like two young Lovers and all of the sunbathers on the beach could see it. They were still holding hands as they made their way to the freshwater shower and after washing the salt water from their bodies, they made their way to the swimming pool area in very much the same way - in unison, closely and very much together. It was therefore no surprise to me that Raoul then lay down on my sunbed next to Susan's and, in that respect at least, I knew that I had been 'replaced' - and it was only day two of our holiday.
I brought the kids back down to the pool after they had woken after about two hours to find that Raoul had vacated my sunbed (the towel was still wet from his body) and that Susan was fast asleep in the shade. I had wanted to ask her what they had talked about but that would have to wait as the ice-cream needs of two boisterous youngsters needed to be met.
'Maybe later, but I wonder what tonight will bring,' I thought, as I stepped out of the shower to get ready for the evening ahead. The kids were already in bed asleep after an afternoon of swimming, squabbling and an early dinner at six o'clock. Susan had woken up about an hour after I had joined her at the poolside, but had not responded to my enquiries about her swim with Raoul.
"I'll tell you what he said later," she had replied, leaving me no more informed than I had been when I had watched them from the balcony.
Ariana arrived at our room at eight on the dot to babysit the children, almost to the very second that Sue had finished getting ready for the night ahead. It always intrigued me just how long it took to put on a little black dress and black lace panties and nothing else underneath. But I had to admit, my Wife looked so very lovely when she was finished and it was immediately clear that Raoul thought the same as we sat down to join Clare and Marcus in the bar.
And I still didn't know what they had talked about as they had swum together that afternoon.
Just as the night before, I sat next to Clare while Susan sat with Raoul, and after a round of drinks had been ordered from the waiter, we all started to chat as if we had known each other for years - it's like that on holidays isn't it? But it was Clare who brought up the weightier subject that she had mentioned the night before.
"I'm sorry if I caused you any upset last night David," she said, "but you looked very perplexed when I told you about my little boy. His name is Marcus too, by the way."
"I must seem very naive to you Clare, but yours is a way of life that appears very strange to me," I replied.
"Full marks for not calling it a 'lifestyle' David," she said, smiling warmly. "A lifestyle is optional. My way of life is not."
"That sounds very severe. Susan tells me that you are - what did she call it? She said that you are probably 'Black Owned' - is that correct?" I asked - hoping that I hadn't said the wrong thing.
Clare gave a small delighted laugh before she replied, "your Wife is very observant David and yes, I am Black Owned. You are definitely 'owned' when you have been bought at auction."
I was stunned. 'Auction? What bloody auction?' I thought to myself as I desperately tried to think of the next question that wouldn't offend this pretty woman who was prepared to talk to an unprepossessing faded hubby like me. I knew that I was sitting with my mouth open but for the life of me I couldn't think of what to say next, but Clare, clever girl that she is, knew exactly what needed to be said.
"Have you ever heard of the White Mistress Auctions David?" she asked.
I shook my head, suddenly ashamed of my ignorance.
"Well," she continued, "four years ago I told Clive, my husband, that I wanted to be an 'Owned Mistress' to one permanent Master instead of being a Pleasure Wife for the many Black Men I had been with. He agreed after some cajoling from me and some of my regular Masters."
