Tales From the Natural Order

"Is he what?" replied a very sleepy Susan.

"Is Raoul my replacement?"

She was quiet for a moment and then said, "Replacement? Oh you mean that silly arrangement we made last summer. I had forgotten all about that."

I didn't believe for one minute that she had forgotten and asked her, with a voice shaking with emotion, "well is he?"

Again she was quiet, and I was beginning to think that she had not heard me and had fallen asleep until she replied, "No! Er, maybe! I dunno! It sort of depends on him doesn't it? Maybe he doesn't fancy me."

In all of our married life together I had never heard Susan say anything so stupid, but I knew why, she was trying to save my feelings. It was time to 'get real' as some of my younger work colleagues would say.

"Of course he fancies you Sue. It's bloody obvious! Clare, Marcus, me and the whole hotel could see it tonight. You can probably see the sparks coming off the two of you from outer space." I said.

"Oh I'm so sorry David. I didn't mean to put you in a spot like that," she said, clearly worried that she had caused me embarrassment.

But, although I hadn't expected it, Susan's holiday encounter had brought the 'replacement agreement' to the forefront of our relationship. It had been my idea and, now the reality was staring me in the face, I had no choice but to honour my side of the arrangement. It was true that she had always needed more than I could provide in our marriage bed so it was time for me to step aside and, if necessary, offer encouragement. I knew that it would be both difficult and humiliating but that is the price one pays when a pact is made with someone you love.

"As long as the kids aren't affected, then I shall not stand in your way," I said.

"You mean that?" she asked.

"Of course!"

"He may not want me in that way."

I thought about how he had pressed Susan's body to his as they had danced together, and replied, "Maybe! And maybe the moon is made of green cheese."

"No!" she said, after a moments thought, "It would be all too difficult with the kids here." And with that rebuff we both went off to sleep.

The following morning, after we had breakfasted, we found the same sunbeds close by the children's pool so Tom and Jenni could play safely while still under our gaze.

Something was on Susan's mind and we both knew what it was, but that didn't prevent her from being the loving and concerned Mother that she is. It was only after the thick layer of suncream had been rubbed onto the children's' bodies and Jennie's water-wings had been secured on her little pink arms that she found time to talk.

"What you said last night," she asked, "were you being serious?"

Now it was my time to be evasive. "Serious? About what?"

"You know damn-well what."

"Oh the 'replacement' agreement," I replied, feigning a temporary loss of memory just to annoy her. A happy marriage can be like that.

"Yes that!" she replied sharply, but with a smile on her pretty face.

"I thought you said that it would be too difficult," I reminded her.

Susan took a moment to consider what she was going to say next, because she was beginning to realise that this was now a serious moment in our marriage. Her lovely face was a mask of concern as she turned to me and said, "If I started dating Raoul, would you look after the kids."

"Yes!"

"That was a very quick answer David," she said, "how would you explain it to them?"

"I would tell them that Raoul is very lonely on his own here, and you are helping him because you are a nice and thoughtful Mum that we are very lucky to have. Or something like that," I replied, fully aware that I had not really thought about what I would say and had made it up as I spoke.

"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."

"And then what?"

"Clive suggested that we put ourselves forward for one of the WMA nights when pretty fertile young Wives with 'little' husbands," she said as she 'air quoted' the word 'little', "offer themselves as breeding Mistresses to handsome Black Masters for a sizable fee."

What could I say that wouldn't sound vapid or unimaginative, but one thing crossed my mind, so I asked her a question whose answer changed my thinking about my manliness and other husbands in general.

"And where was your husband while this was going on?"

"And Clive, bless him, he was stood naked with the other five hubbies at the back of the room with a ball gag in his mouth and a small metal cage on his tiny penis," she replied, clearly relishing the memory of her husband's emasculation.

"Christ!" I exclaimed loudly in shock at the very thought of poor Clive's humiliation, "why didn't he just - I don't know - walk out of the room."

Clare laughed again at my obvious naivety, and then replied, "it's difficult if your hands are tied behind your back and your ankles are chained to the floor."

"The poor man," I uttered without thinking.

"He loved every minute of it David. They all did," she replied to my thoughtless comment. "He's a cuckold by instinct you see! It's all part of the Natural Order."

"Cuckold! That's the word Susan used last night when I told her about our conversation," I said to the pretty young Wife at my side who was clearly enjoying giving me tuition on the world of interracial infidelity.

"Did she now? Your Susan knows a little more about the subject than I would have given her credit for," remarked Clare. "And what else did she say David?"

I had to think back to our conversation of almost twenty four hours ago.

"She also said that your husband is probably 'Black Owned' too."

"And so he is," she replied. "And Marcus is as much his Master as he is mine. We are a 'Black Owned' couple - and we love it."

I was curious about another thing that Clare had said just moments before.

"There was something else you said just now Clare. What do you mean by the 'Natural Order'?"

She glanced at her Lover, Marcus, and then looked at her watch. "Sorry David, but we have a taxi booked for nine-thirty," she said. "We are going into Agios Nikolaos for some drinks by the lake in the town. Why don't Susan and you come with us. It'll be fun."

Susan's head popped up from her deep and clearly enjoyable discussions with Raoul and in a flash she said, "Oh what a good idea David. Let's go - we can share the taxi fare."

I knew what would happen even before I realised the implication of what I was going to say next. I would be like a 'spare prick at a wedding' and although Raoul, Marcus and Clare encouraged me to go with them, we all knew that I would be 'playing gooseberry' to my Wife and the man whose company she now seemed to like very much. And as much as I would like to see Agios, I knew that there was only one answer I could give.

"I'm afraid that we can't keep our babysitter too long tonight, because she has an exam in the morning."

It was a lie and Susan knew it and her furrowed brow told me that she was about to argue the matter with me - Arianna had said nothing of the sort.

"But why don't you go Dear," I said to Sue, instantly clearing the doubt from her face as she realised what I had just suggested.

"Are you sure David?" she replied, unconvincingly pretending to show concern at my reticence to join them.

"Of course I am," I replied. "Go and have fun. I shall grab a bottle of red wine from the bar and drink it on the balcony. So don't worry about me."

As Susan and the others collected their coats and bags ready to leave for the taxi, it was Clare who turned to me and spoke. "You had another question for me didn't you David?" she asked as she stood up to leave.

"I did," I replied. "I asked you what you meant by the 'Natural Order'."

"Oh yes!" she replied while looking meaningfully at Susan and Raoul who were walking towards the Hotel Entrance, hand in hand again, "and tomorrow I shall tell you all about it. But I think that you are already getting the idea of just what it really means."

"Yes Clare," I replied, "I think I am."