A Good Marriage

Chapter 8 -- Revolution

Please feel free to read the earlier chapters at no extra charge. Perhaps you'll find reading the chapters in sequence adds context and depth as the story unfolds. Otherwise, feel free to find the juicy bits and wank.

And so, despite a fifty percent divorce rate, rest assured that in a world where it's safe to have unprotected sex, there is such a thing as...a good marriage.

**********

"Are you okay?

"Yeah, I'm just tired."

"You've been tired a lot lately."

"Not really."

"Hmm, okay. Good night, darlin'." Carrie kissed Mark and turned away from him. He hadn't wanted to make love all day. And it wasn't the first time it had happened.

Mark was tired, but that wasn't the real reason he did not want to make love to Carrie. For a long time he had been having more sex than he needed. Or really wanted, for that matter. He wanted to please Carrie and did his best, but he simply didn't need sex as often as she did and he was slowing down.

They slept and in the morning made love before drinking coffee and reading the paper on their deck overlooking the bay. And they had sex that night. And the next day and night.

But the following day Mark begged off again. Then didn't want sex until the next night and Carrie had to initiate it. She was a little worried. It had happened to her before.

Every couple of days Mark declined sex until a few months later he found excuses to not fuck for three days in a row. Carrie could tolerate that if he were sick. Or if she were. But it was

not

okay if Mark was healthy.

The dry spells were getting closer and closer so that Mark wanted sex only two or three, maybe four times a week.

They lay in bed one evening. Mark's arm was around Carrie, her head resting on his shoulder. She was stroking his cock. "Do you love me, Mark?"

"What a silly question. Of course I do."

"Aye, I know you do." She rubbed her palm over his crown and was rewarded with a moan. "It's just that we don't make love like we used to."

"We have slowed down some, true."

"Correction, darlin', you've slowed down."

A pause before Mark responded. "I guess."

"I know I'm high maintenance that way, and I try to make it good for you." Carried plucked pre-cum from Mark's cock and licked it off her finger.

"It always is. You're the best."

"And I can honestly say that you're the best lover I've ever had. Truly."

"You taught me well. Ohh, that's good." She ran her nails down the length of his cock.

"You're a fast learner, and naturally gifted," she said with a smile. Carrie swung a leg over Mark, positioned him and sank down, taking his cock deep inside of her. "But I need more, darlin'. I need you everyday." She rotated her hips. "I need your big, beautiful cock in me tight pussy everyday."

Mark looked up at his soulmate, her thick, straight red hair flowing with her movements. Her perfect breasts, a dusting of freckles over that ivory skin, swaying as she moved on him. Her hands were on him, running through his chest hair. She played with his nipples and fucked him. She rose and fell, contracted her muscle and Mark moaned at the pressure.

Carrie slowed and she ground back and forth on him. "I need more, Mark. And I want it from you."

"I'll try, Carrie. I want you to be happy. I want to make you happy." He rolled Carrie to her back and made love to his beautiful wife until she cried out with release.

And Mark did try to make Carrie happy. He did make love to her every day at least once, sometimes more. It wasn't that he was not attracted to Carrie, far from it, his pulse quickened when she walked into the room. And so things were good for a few months until his normal rhythm resurfaced and he was making excuses to avoid sex except for a few times a week. Carrie mentioned it and things were good again for about a month. Carrie mentioned it and things were good for a few weeks. Then less. And less.

They lay in bed one evening. Mark's arm was around Carrie, her head resting on his shoulder. She was stroking his cock. "We need to talk, Mark."

"Okay." Mark knew exactly what she wanted to talk about.

"I'm a little scared." She stroked him.

"Why?" He stroked her arm.

"This has happened to me before."

"What."

"The sex difference."

"The sex difference."

"Aye. The sex difference. One of my long term boyfriends quit on me. He couldn't keep up with me. I never cheated on him, but ended up resentin' his lack of effort or even his carin' enough to make an effort. It broke us apart."

"Oh."

"Of course, I didn't love him like I do you," she was quick to say. "I love you with all me heart and I can't imagine a life without you." Carrie scooped some pre-cum and Mark licked her fingers. "And I know you love me, Mark. I don't doubt that even a wee bit."

Mark caressed her shoulder and shivered with pleasure when Carried rubbed his glans between her fingers. "But we do have a problem before us that needs addressin'."

"What do you suggest, hon?" Mark said, his voice husky.

"I suggest you think on it. Use that MIT trained brain of yours and come up with a solution that satisfies us both," Carrie said, leaned up, kissed Mark on the cheek then went down on him.

Carrie rubbed herself, rocked her pelvis on Mark's leg while she sucked his cock, savoring the slippery, spongy hardness, the flavor of his pre-cum, reveled in the feel of a cock in her mouth, so much better that it was his.

Mark loved Carrie's blowjobs. He waited and was pleased and sighed as she snaked a finger up his rear and pressed on his prostate. Carrie licked and sucked and pressed and Mark moaned when he came. He waited and, as expected, Carrie shared some of his cum in a tender, loving kiss.

Right before Mark drifted off to sleep he thought he heard Carrie say, "Don't let me down, darlin'. Come up with an answer for us."

And he thought on it, broke it down into components to see what he could come up with for them. He had to admit that he would be satisfied having sex three, maybe four days a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. His needs were not nearly as strong as Carrie's. She wanted sex more than he did, much more. And not just wanted, she needed sex. He had to admit that daily sex was simply a part of who she was, the woman he loved with all his heart.

The next night Carrie lay on her back, Mark on his side leaning on his elbow, a hand between her legs. Carrie's eyes were closed. "Mmm, feels good, darlin'."

Mark stroked and pulled and rubbed and penetrated. "Good. I like to please you."

"You do."

"I've been thinking."

Carrie smiled. "Hey, don't stop just 'cause you're talkin'."

Mark smiled, resumed his movements. "The sex difference. You need daily sex. I don't. I think I could probably be happy having sex three, maybe four days a week."

"Go on. Keep it up and go on."

"Well, why can't we compromise? We'll both go four, maybe five days a week. Can't that work?"

Carrie pulled Mark's arm around her so he could play with a breast and nipple while he pleasured her down there with his fingers. "Mmm, feels nice." Her breathing was rapid, she grabbed his hand that was on her breast. Carrie made small noises then cried out and came. Mark watched the blush of pleasure that spread across her freckled chest. Her breathing slowed and Carrie rolled to her side so she was face to face with Mark.

"Thank you, darlin'. That was lovely."

He kissed her. She licked his fingers. "Glad to oblige. So what about four or five days a week?"

"Won't work."

"Why not? On the other days you could use your toys."

Carrie sighed. "I've tried that, darlin'. It's hard to explain, but I want sex all the time. Every day and then some. It's like breathing. I

need

it. Have you ever known me to be

not

wet? Even when you walk up and grab me while I'm doin' somethin' in the kitchen?"

"That's true." He smiled. She was

always

ready and willing.

"My sex drive is incredibly strong, Mark. And it's probably goin' to get even stronger. You realize that, right?"

"I hadn't thought about it, but yeah. Men at eighteen, women at forty and all that."

"Right."

"But you haven't explained why five days of sex and two with toys won't work. Seems like it should be easy." They were both touching and caressing each other, legs entwined.

"It can work on a short-term basis is all I can say. I've tried it before and with us lately. After a while it's like I get backed up or somethin' and then get desperate for the real thing. I need you holdin' me, touchin' me, kissin' and lickin' me, puttin' that big fat cock of yours in me holes. Every. Single. Day."

Mark laughed.

"It's true, though. I swear it."

"What about counseling? Or a support group or something."

"Been down that road a couple of times and it didn't take. I really tried too. As for those sex addict support groups, they're just another place to hookup, you know? They should

never

have co-ed groups." Mark smiled and nodded his head. "It's just me nature, Mark, me needin' so much sex."

Carrie kissed Mark, told him she loved him, turned her back to him, snuggled against him and pulled his arm around her. Before they drifted off to sleep Carrie said, "You'll come up with an answer to our problem, darlin'. I know you will."

A few days went by and Mark and Carrie worked and played in their beautiful home in Sausalito. They stripped naked and drank wine in their hot tub on the deck overlooking the bay. Made love and relaxed, content with each other, Mark's arm around Carrie, the air cool, the water warm, bubbles swirling madly around them.

Carrie knew full well what the solution to their problem was going to be. She just had to let mark come around to it. He had slowed down asking about her many past lovers, and they hadn't used them in their sex play as much lately. She wondered if she should do so, thought better of it and waited.

Mark tried not to think about it, tried not to go in that inevitable direction. He laid out the problem as logically as he could. The goal was for Mark and Carrie to be together for the rest of their lives. They were perfect together in every way save one. But, if he couldn't make love to Carrie every day forever because his natural pace was three or four days a week, and if more than daily sex was her natural pace, her craving, then...what? She said toys didn't work long-term. So, thinking logically, without emotion, that left only one other solution. Other men.

Once Mark let that thought pry into his head he allowed himself to play with the idea. He could do that, play with the idea of Carrie with other men. It was safe. It wasn't real. So he sat and thought about what it would be like for Carrie to leave the house, have sex with another man and return home to him. Mark thought about another man's hands on his beloved Carrie. Her mouth on another man's cock.

Over a few days, a week, each time he imagined Carrie with other men, let the images play across his mind, Mark's pulse quickened and his stomach tensed. Maybe it was because he had adjusted to Carrie's extensive sexual history, had made his peace with it. And maybe it was because they even used Carrie's history in their sex play, to arouse them both and enhance their pleasure. Maybe it was because of these reasons that Mark was surprised to discover, over time, that he was not horrified at the thought of his soulmate fucking another man.

Mark chewed on it for another few days and one evening he and Carrie lay in bed together. He was on his back, Carrie stroked his cock. "Mmm, feels nice," he said. "You have a great touch."

Carries smiled. "I love the feel of your pipe in my hand. And elsewhere." She squeezed him. "So, Mark. I have to assume you've been thinkin' on our little problem." She caressed him.

"I have. It's weird. I'm at the point where sometimes I think I can and sometimes I think I can't."

"Can and can't what?"

"Deal with it."

"Deal with what?" she stroked him and spread pre-cum around the head.

"God, that's good," Mark rasped. "A solution."

"Mmm hmm. And what would that solution be?"

"You probably already know."

"So tell me, anyway."

"Well..." Carrie waited and stroked him, he shivered at her touch.

"I love you, Carrie, with all my heart." Mark started over. And I never want to be without you."

"I feel the same way, Mark. Words can't express."

"But the difference is you need something I can't give you. On a long term basis, anyway. And if you not getting what you truly need would ruin us..." Mark took a deep breath, his pulse quickened. "So if it's the only way for us to both be...to have certain needs met, then I think...I can probably live with it."

"Live with what, darlin'."

"You know."

"Tell me, darlin'."

Mark's heart was racing. "You...and...other men."

"Me and other men?" Carrie caressed him, concentrating on the most sensitive pleasure zones.

"No. Yes. I mean if you need sex every day and I can't do it every day forever. I don't know...if that's the only way for us to stay together, and I want to be with you forever, Carrie...I guess...we should...well...at least talk about it."

"Me and other men. Wouldn't that be dangerous territory?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I see other men, and let's not be coy about what we're talkin' about, if I have sex with other men, how are you going to feel about it? Are you goin' to be jealous? Get your feelin's hurt?"

Mark shrugged.

"Will you resent me after awhile because I have needs you can't keep up with?" She stroked him. "Will you feel inadequate because you can't satisfy me?"

"I don't?" Mark looked at Carrie with alarm.

"Oh, of course you do, Mark." A quick, reassuring kiss. "You satisfy me more than anyone else I've ever been with, I didn't mean it that way. I meant frequency, not quality, is all. You got all the quality I'll ever need darlin'." Carrie winked at Mark and fondled his balls.

"I've thought pretty hard on it. I've even imagined you with other men. Not liked we've talked about, not like your past. But now. I've tried to imagine you leaving home to have sex with someone other than me. And coming home to me after you've had sex with someone else."

"And?"

"At first I couldn't bear it. But now...." Mark shrugged.

It was not lost on Carrie that Mark's cock remained rock hard, it throbbed in her hand. She rolled to her back and pulled Mark on top of her. She spread her slender legs wide and Mark slipped into her with a practiced ease. Carrie gasped at the fullness and her heart soared with love and bliss. Mark's chest hair tickled her nipples and she thrust her hips up to meet his.

Carrie let Mark fuck her and, her voice thick, said, "Just so we're clear, darlin', other men will be where you are now. Other men will be sweatin' and gruntin' over me like you are now." Mark's face was near her ear and she heard a slight gasp and then a moan. "I'm not sayin' that to hurt you, but they will be." Carrie rolled her hips. Mark was close. Carrie moved her hips faster and said, "Other men..." she snapped her hips, "...will have their cocks in me cunt," heard Mark say "Oh god" and jerk and spasm and felt him come deep inside of her. He lay on his beautiful wife while his breathing slowed. She caressed his back, his hair.

Softly, "We both know it has to be this way, Mark. It's the only way." Mark rolled to his side, a leg over hers, his stomach in knots, an elusive tingle at the edge of perception. "I want you to know that I wish you had as high a need as me. That would be a perfect world for me."

"Me too."

"So it has to be this way, whether we want it to be or not. If we're to stay together." She caressed his face.

Silence.

"Worries?"

"Of course. I mean, what if you meet someone else you like better. What if you fall in love with one of your...whatevers."

"You can let go of that one, Mark. You are perfect for me in every way. Except for the frequency thing. And I see that as me weakness, me flaw that I can't change. Lord knows, I've tried. But it will be your strength and love that keeps us together, darlin'. And I love you so much, Mark. I can't even begin to tell you how much." A tear rolled down Carrie's cheek.

Mark wiped the tear away and licked his finger, gave her a small smile.

"What if you get emotionally involved then, fall in love that way."

"I'm not sayin' this to hurt you, I don't ever want to do that, but I've had plenty of experience separatin' sex from emotions and love. I'll not lie to you, though. For my long term friends I have great affection, but nothin' more than that. You should be able to trust that because of how we met, how we grew together, grew to love each other. I've never had anythin' close to what I have with you. What I

feel

for you.

Ever

"

"Really?"

"Jesus, aye. My love for you is overwhelmin' at times."

"But not enough to, you know."

Carrie shook her head. "Altogether different and independent."

"Oh."

"And sex with you is so much better precisely because I have so much love for you, not just affection."

"Really?"

"Oh my god, yes. It's like goin' from...from...I don't know, an old square color TV..."

"Four by three."

"Geek!" She poked him with a finger. "Like goin' from an old square TV," she stuck her tongue out at Mark and he smiled, "to a movie theater sized hi-definition, three-dee thing. Not even close."

"Then..."

"It's still a need. Just...that it's so much better with you."

"So if we try this," they touched and caressed one another. "How will it work."

"I've been thinkin' too."

"Ah."

"It's just that I knew it had to be this way, Mark. I knew it would come to this and I love you so much for this, this sacrifice for us." Carrie hugged Mark. "But what I'm thinkin' is just that I'll get back in touch with my old mates in town. Most of them are probably still around."

"You haven't kept in touch?"

"Not really. No reason to. They know I'm happily married. A text here or there from a few to say hi. Probably fishin', but nothin' more."

"How many old mates are there?"

"Not many, just a dozen or so."

Mark's stomach flopped, he almost flinched at her words, at her casual delivery, but simply said, "Ah."

"I'll tell them I'm deeply in love you, but have...an itch that needs scratchin' from time to time. It'll all be above board and I'll set down rules."

"Like what?"

"Like if you get horned up at the last second I don't show up, because I prefer to be with you. But they better have damn good reason to not show up if they don't want to be off the list."

"The list."

"Whatever."

Mark sighed and rolled to his back. Carrie snuggled against him and said, "We can make this work, Mark. I know we can."

They fell asleep, Carrie happy and content while Mark had disturbing dreams.

In the morning, over coffee, on the deck, they talked about her seeing other men. They decided that she would follow Mark's lead. Mark would pick two or three days when Carrie would be free to visit her friends, more if necessary. Carrie assured Mark that she would only see old friends, the ones she was seeing just before they met, and would talk to him if and when any new friends were needed.

Mark poured their last cup of coffee and took them to the deck where Carrie was waiting. She wore one of his t-shirts and looked spectacular. He handed her a cup. Carrie tucked her hair behind and ear and Mark became aroused at the small, delicate gesture. He swallowed and said, "I guess you can have Monday, Wednesday and Thursday."

Carrie smiled. "That's exactly what I was thinkin'."

"So how will you go about it? I wouldn't like to think of you going out on date dates with them."

"Oh, no, no, darlin'. Strictly businesslike. These guys," Mark gulped at her words, his pulse quickened, "are fine with simply gettin' together. They don't worry about winin' and dinin'."