A Good Marriage

Chapter 1 -- Beginnin's

In a world where it's safe to have unprotected sex, there is such a thing as...a good marriage.

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It was cliché, but it happened that way, nevertheless.

Mark arrived just before sunset at the Fourth of July party his lifelong friend Paul was hosting at his sprawling suburban home. Mark said his hellos, introduced Laura, his date, and they wandered through the spacious, well decorated house to the backyard. He scanned the property. Large, manicured, professionally landscaped and rimmed by high hedges. Music surrounded them, flowing from unseen speakers. Muffled conversations and bursts of laughter, the tinkling of ice in glasses, the koosh of beers being opened, Mark smiled at the party sounds. He took in all the smiling people, most of whom he knew. Mark's gaze swept the yard, from left to right and he spotted her standing with a small group of people on the other side of the pool.

She was stunning and he was stunned, immobilized for a moment as their eyes locked. A connection that went for just longer than a casual glance called for. His date noticed the hitch and asked him if anything was wrong. Mark stammered no, that he just thought he'd seen an old friend he hadn't seen in years, but it wasn't him.

For the rest of the party, a couple of hours, Mark was distracted by the redhead he'd first seen across the pool. He was attentive to and enjoyed his date's company, but his thoughts were nonetheless distracted by the woman he'd first seen across the pool. Drinks, music, dancing and fireworks, a good time with friends and then home where he and Laura made love on Mark's queen sized bed.

In the morning, after they made love again, after Laura left to tend to her own affairs, Mark thought about the redhead he'd seen the night before. The redhead he couldn't help but keep an eye on throughout the party. He'd admired the way she moved, her athletic grace, her erect posture and confident walk. He'd watched how she'd interacted with others, friendly, charming, laughing, loose and open it seemed. He wondered who the man was she left with and what their relationship was.

Mark was annoyed with himself because he hadn't talked to her, hadn't found a reason to slip away from his date for a few minutes. After all, he might never see her again though odds were fair he would, given that she was at Paul's party, appeared to have some connection. Mark wondered if she was in a relationship, married or gay even. He hoped he would have the chance to find out.

Paul was a social being. He hosted frequent gatherings and had another one a few weeks later. Mark decided to go solo thinking, praying, the redhead would be there. He changed clothes several times, trying to pick out just the right look. Finally, he said screw it and went as himself because that's who he'd be, try to be, if he met her.

When Mark spotted her across the room his heart beat faster and his pulse raced. He looked around and saw Paul, waited until Paul was between guests and cornered him.

"Paul."

"Hey Mark, you made it. I didn't see you come in."

"I snuck in the front door."

"Ah, no wonder."

"Anyway, I want to ask you something."

Paul smiled, "I bet."

"No, seriously. The redhead. Who is she?"

He laughed. "I knew it!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what's her story?"

"She's Carrie McCarthy. Moved here from Seattle a couple of months ago. She writes novels."

"Anything I'd know?"

"If you read romance novels and bodice rippers you might."

"Fat chance," Mark said.

"Get this, one of the other editors in Eileen's firm works with Carrie. Don't tell anyone, but she writes romantica."

Mark gave him a look. "What's that?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I forgot you don't have a wife in the business. Romantica is like a romance book but with explicit sex scenes."

"She writes porn?" Mark said and drew his head back a bit in surprise.

"Shhh, not so loud. Yeah. Pretty hot, huh?" Paul grinned. "I wish Eileen would write some. Might rev her up a bit."

Mark laughed. "Is she attached?"

"I'm married to her! Don't get any ideas!"

"Funny. Carrie, not Eileen."

"Not that I know of. Eileen said she dates, but nothing serious."

"You actually asked?" Mark looked at Paul with surprise.

"Fuck yeah! Just look at her. How can you

not

want to know about that."

"I bet Eileen took it well."

"Hey! Give me some credit here. I've been married awhile and know how to get information without pissing off the general."

Mark laughed and said, "I want to meet her, but I don't know. She's probably out of my league."

"Hey pal, don't sell yourself short. If I were gay I'd be all over your stuff."

They both laughed. "Alright, alright. Can't get a hit if you don't step up to the plate, right?"

"Attaboy," Paul pointed a finger at him. "And remember, failure is not an option!" He grinned, clapped Mark on the back and took his leave to mingle with his guests.

Carrie was constantly surrounded, mostly by men, and Mark wondered how he could possibly get her attention, get her alone. He was mapping out a strategy when he saw her excuse herself from the person she was talking to and start his way. She was looking directly at Mark and striding gracefully, purposefully toward him. He noticed she placed one foot directly in front of the other at the mid-line of her tall, slender body. People glanced her way as she moved across the room.

Mark gulped, took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself. He couldn't believe how nervous he was. It wasn't like him at all. He was typically confident and self-assured with women. It was a strange feeling.

Carrie stopped in front of Mark. She stuck out her hand and said, "Hello. I'm Carrie McCarthy."

"Hello Carrie McCarthy. I'm Mark Stevens. I can't believe it actually worked."

She cocked her head to one side. "What actually worked Mark Stevens?"

"Mind control. I've been sending you telepathic commands to come over here and introduce yourself to me. Amazing, isn't it?"

Carrie laughed and said, "And here I thought it was I saw you talkin' to Paul and starin' at me." Her voice was smoky and her Irish accent enchanting.

"I beg your pardon! That was not a stare. That was merely a prolonged glance. I'm no longer a stalker." Carrie laughed. "But aye, busted. I did ask Paul about you."

"Doin' reconnaissance, eh."

"The basic research."

"Well, fair's fair then. Confession time."

"Already?"

"Shut up," she said with a smile. "I asked Eileen about you, too."

"Seriously?" Mark was taken aback.

"To be sure. I noticed you at the Fourth of July party. You had a date or I would have tried some mind control of me own."

Mark smiled and said, "Wow. That's a shock. So what was the report?"

"Let's see, you moved back here, to the Bay area, a couple of years ago after you broke up with a girlfriend you'd been with for a few years."

"She broke up with me. She moved to Japan for her job."

"I know. I was just givin' you the summary."

"Great, thanks a lot Eileen."

Carrie laughed and continued, "You're thirty years old, you work for an internet company out of your home and have a flexible schedule."

"Did Eileen give you my tax returns, too?"

"Of course not! She said I have to worm that out of you meself," Carrie said and poked Mark in the chest with her finger.

Mark laughed. They continued to chat. At one point they grew silent. Mark looked at Carrie, into her amazing green eyes and felt something stir inside of him. He smiled.

Carrie looked at him, smiled, nodded slightly and said, "I had a feelin' I'd like you Mark Stevens, and so far so good."

Mark laughed and said, "Well, I certainly hope I don't blow the audition."

He was immensely attracted to Carrie. About a head shorter, thick, straight red hair that fell just below the shoulders and a slender build. A dusting of freckles on her beautiful face and neckline and Mark couldn't help wonder about the rest of her. And that aura! Carrie radiated sensuality. She didn't do anything overt, Mark didn't notice any seductive behavior, but the woman simply vibrated with sexual energy and confidence.

Carrie was happy she had approached Mark. He never would have gotten her alone because she attracted a lot of attention. She always had, was used to it and early on learned how to handle men, and women, with diplomacy and grace.

Carrie had noticed Mark at Paul's last party and had been intrigued by his looks and the way he moved and handled himself. She had definitely noticed him from a distance. And close up she wasn't disappointed. Tall, classically handsome, trim and he appeared to be in shape. She couldn't tell how toned or muscular he was because of the hang of his clothes, which she liked, a lot. And she enjoyed his banter. Carrie loved to laugh and found Mark to be witty, charming and engaging. And sexy. Very sexy. Arousingly sexy. The wit, the confidence and the looks were irresistible to her. She was surprised to realize she had butterflies, for heaven's sake, and she hadn't felt

that

way for a very long time.

And so it began. They went on their first official date a few nights later. Their second date followed a week after that and the third two days later.

Mark learned that Carrie had been born in Dublin, left home for New York at eighteen and traveled the world as a runway model. She did some print ads as well and wrote on the side. It took her seven years to get her college degree, most of it online, because of all her travels and her busy schedule. She landed in Chicago for no particular reason and when she tired of the climate moved to the Bay area, which she had always loved. She made a lot of money as a model and now earned a more than comfortable living with her varied lines of books, all of which she wrote under a pseudonym.

Carrie learned that Mark had been born in the Bay area, was an only child, and that his parents were university professors. He graduated from MIT, secured a great job in Silicon Valley had a series of relationships and, after his last girlfriend moved to Japan, moved back to the Bay area where he worked from his home.

No, their story certainly wasn't new. It happened to people every day for thousands of years. But it was their turn now. It was happening to Mark and Carrie and they couldn't imagine anyone in the history of all mankind ever being happier than themselves. And so, four seasons after they met they were married.

They honeymooned in the Maldives, their secluded room on stilts, out on the water and accessed by a long pier. Mark and Carrie walked back from the open air restaurant where they'd had seafood and, for fun, fruity drinks. Hand in hand they strolled along the pier to their room on the water.

"I'm so glad I talked to you at Paul's party. Who would have guessed where it would lead." Carrie stepped in from of Mark and pirouetted in a display of joy, her skirt flaring as she twirled.

Mark smiled and took her in his arms. "Absolutely. I'm the luckiest man in the world." Mark squeezed her. She was slender, but not slender enough to be a runway model, he thought. "Tell me again why you approached me."

"Well, it takes a brave man to approach me, it does."

"Are you calling me a coward?"

Carrie smiled. "Nothin' cowardly about you that I've seen so far."

Mark smiled, lost in her emerald eyes that held nothing but love.

"I saw you over there across the room bein' all tall and handsome. I thought, I got to get me some of that!"

Mark laughed. "I felt the same, but I love you for your brain."

"Liar!" They kissed for a long time. She sighed when the kiss ended and they walked on, hand in hand.

Carrie said, "I can't explain it. There was somethin' about you. I just couldn't bear the thought of lettin' you get away again without meetin' you. I didn't want the party to end without talkin' to you. And with all those hounds sniffin' round me I didn't know if you'd get the chance, so I came to you instead."

Mark opened the door to the room. "I would never have let that party end without getting your number."

Entering, Carrie grabbed Mark's shirt, pulled him to her, said, "And boy-o-boy have you got my number," and kissed him hard.

They kissed, tongues swirling and dancing, faster and more desperate. Mark unbuttoned her blouse and pushed it off her shoulders, down her arms and off. He pulled down Carrie's skirt, letting it drop to the floor where she kicked it away. She wasn't wearing panties. Mark put his hands on her bottom and pulled her against him, against his hardness.

Mark put his hands on her shoulders and pushed Carrie to her knees. She moaned and mouthed him through his thin shorts. He looked down at his beautiful wife and ran his hands through her thick red hair as she mouthed him. Carrie fondled him through his shorts, unbuttoned, unzipped them and drew them down his legs and he stepped out of them.

Carrie swirled her tongue around his head and took him in her mouth. She used her mouth and tongue and hands and lips to give him pleasure. She used her talent and skills and Mark's hips churned and she was mewling and making wet noises as Mark came and his thrusts slowed.

Mark pulled Carrie up and kissed her, tasting the faint residue of his cum in her mouth. Mark took off his shirt and lay on the bed. He gestured to her and she straddled him. He cupped her ass and pulled her to his mouth. Mark looked up at his love while he licked her, nibbled and chewed her, loving that she was slick and hairless there. Carrie looked down at her love and caressed his hair. Mark licked, nibbled and bit and Carrie grabbed his hair, pinched her nipples, rode his faced and shouted and came.

Carrie scooted back down his chest and now he was inside of her. She was still. She looked around the cottage, open on the three sides not facing other cottages, glorious blue water surrounding them. She breathed deeply, thought about how utterly happy she was and how much she loved Mark. She looked down at his handsome face smiling up at her, love in his eyes. She felt his thick cock twitch in her and she rotated her hips. Mark caressed her breasts, pinched her nipples and pulled them down toward him.

Their tongues met and clashed, their hands hungry for one another. Carrie pushed Mark's arms above his head and whispered, "Be still, love," and ground against him. She put her hands on his chest and rotated her hips, side to side, back and forth. She was pleased to hear Mark moan. Carrie snapped her hips a certain way that made Mark cry out in pleasure. She clinched and released her muscle on him as she moved and smiled when he said, "God, that's good."

Carrie slowed down when she felt him get close, speeding back up as his breathing slowed, was less desperate. Carrie kept Mark on the brink of orgasm for an impossibly long time before letting him come with a roar and an arch that lifted her knees off the bed.

They stayed naked in their cottage on stilts in the clear water surrounding the island. They got dressed only to get supplies and eat at the restaurant. The location was remote, romantic, sensual and perfect for them as they expressed their undying love for each other. Mark and Carrie even talked about moving there so they would never have to leave their paradise island of love and bliss.

But the day finally came when they had to leave their Maldives love nest. Carrie's hand rubbed the inside of his thigh on the boat back to the mainland where they caught a flight home, during which Mark became a member in good standing of the mile high club.

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Thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter of Mark and Carrie's story, I hope you enjoyed it. Writers love feedback so please take a moment to vote and leave a comment. Let me know what you think of it.