This is the sixth episode in a series entitled "Jackie and Artie". If you have not read the previous five episodes of this series, I encourage you do so before beginning this chapter.
"Jackie and Artie" is a romantic story about a dominant hot wife and her submissive cuckold husband. While they have a deep and abiding love for each other they do lead an alternative lifestyle. If this subject matter offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable I strongly suggest that you find something else to read.
As soon as I reached the security of my basement room I sat down on the edge of my bed and started to shake my head. Why did I have to react like that? Jackie explained why she was dating Ron and it made perfect sense to me. Ron was typical of the guys she dated while we were at Kelroy.
My wife had been a popular beauty in college and now that she'd just turned thirty she was afraid of turning into a middle aged house wife. Jackie really didn't have any reason to be afraid. Her mother was still gorgeous, her sister was gorgeous and I suspected that Jackie was still going to be gorgeous when she was a great grandmother.
Jackie was a bright, sophisticated, well-educated woman with a charming personality, a successful law career and two lovely daughters. Eventually she would realize that for her, there wasn't any reason to fear age. She was a woman of substance. While she did have the fine facial features, gorgeous hair and sensuous body of a glamour girl; she had more. She had heart and soul. She had a core of inner beauty. As she matured, that inner beauty would begin to radiate outward and like a fine wine she would become more intoxicating, complex and alluring with age.
This was what had happened to Connie and there wasn't any doubt in my mind that it would also happen with Jackie and Nattie.
While I could see that Jackie was beginning to understand all of this, I realized that I had to be patient with her. Insecurity was a malady that plagued all humans. Like most illnesses the strong could survive an occasional attack, but recovery always took time.
Still, Jackie had tried to explain that neglecting me had been nothing more than an inadvertent side effect of her reaction to her fears about getting older. She already had substantial insight into one of the causes of our problems.
Of course my own insecurity was another cause. Rationally I knew that as long as Jackie was partying with guys like Ron I had nothing to fear. In college she'd had a bevy of those guys constantly sniffing at her heels. Yes, she did give her pussy to most of them, but that was all she ever gave them. When she wanted a serious relationship she rejected all of them and chose me. Unfortunately, I was beginning to understand that a man requires a considerable amount of self-confidence to be able to bear the knowledge that his wife is regularly getting fucked by other men, without constantly being nagged by the fear that he might lose her to one of them.
I smiled. Insecurity seemed to be the lot of the cuckold.
And then I heard Jackie's footsteps on the basement stairs. I waited. After a moment she appeared in the open doorway to my room.
Jackie was still wearing her garter belt and nylons, but she'd put on a white satin baby doll nightie. It was short; the hemline reached just an inch or two below her waist and did nothing to conceal the lips of her shaved pussy. The low cut top of the nightie was made of loosely woven lace. Jackie's large nipples were clearly visible through the gaps in the weave. It was an incredibly sexy piece of lingerie and modesty was clearly not its purpose. I also knew that I'd never seen it before.
She didn't come inside my room. Instead Jackie stood in the doorway and knocked on the door frame.
Sitting on the edge of my bed still naked, I said; "You're the mistress of this house. You should never have to stop and knock before you enter a room."
Jackie shook her head. "Until I've learned to be a benevolent mistress, I shouldn't be allowed to wield power."
"The ability to learn from mistakes is one of the qualities of a wise and benevolent ruler."
"And I've made plenty of mistakes."
"As have I."
"You? How? As I see it, you're guiltless."
Smiling at Jackie, I said; "Alas poor cuckold, insecurity is thy name."
For a second Jackie stared at me and then she started to laugh. "Artie honey, did you just make that up?"
"Actually it's a paraphrase of two quotes from Hamlet."
Giggling, Jackie said; "Oh the joy of being married to an English teacher."
"You are a lucky girl."
Jackie grinned. "And that Artie Hammond is one of the many reasons that I will never leave you for another man."
I smiled at Jackie.
She said; "Artie, may I come inside?"
"Of course you may. Would you like to sit with me?"
"Yes, that would be nice." Jackie walked over and sat down on the bed next to me.
Once she was seated I said; "I like that nightie."
"I was hoping you would."
"Is it new?" Immediately regretting the question, I said; "I'm sorry, that's none of my business." Shaking my head as I realized that had been an equally inappropriate comment, I said; "I'm sorry Jackie, every time I open my mouth I seem to be determined to stick one of my feet in it."
Jackie snuggled up to me. "It's okay sweetheart, right now I'm feeling a little awkward too."
We sat together in silence. After several seconds Jackie said; "It's not new and yes, I have worn it for another man. I'm sorry Artie. Last night I promised you that I'd bring some of the lingerie home that I was keeping at my mother's so you could enjoy it too. That's what I'm trying to do."
"Thank you, I appreciate that. You look very beautiful in it. And I'm glad that you told me the truth. It's okay that you've worn it for another man."
"I promised not lie to you anymore and I won't."
"Thank you, that means a lot to me."
"Artie, what do you want me to do about Ron?"
"Keep seeing him."
"Are you sure?"
"Is there any reason you shouldn't keep seeing him?"
"If my seeing him upsets you there is."
I looked at Jackie and said; "Alas poor cuckold, insecurity is thy name."
She smiled at me. "You're telling me that sometimes you're just going to be insecure."
"Yes, I think that goes with the territory."
"Is there anything I can do to help you feel more secure? I'll stop seeing any guy that makes you nervous. If you want me to do it, I'll break it off with Ron tomorrow. Just tell me."
"No Jackie, if this is going to work I have to trust you."
"And I have to be considerate of you."
"But not to the degree that I can start dictating who you can see or can't see. If I sense that you're becoming emotionally involved with another man we'll talk about it. If I start to feel neglected because you're spending too much time with another man we can talk about that too. I think the key to making this relationship work is communication. The conversation we had upstairs was stressful for both of us and it didn't end harmoniously, but I think it was productive."
Jackie nodded. "I think it was too."
"I feel like I have a better understanding of why some of the things that happened during the past year occurred. It bothered me when I learned that you spent more intimate time with Ron over the last several months than you did with me. No, actually it hurt me. Now at least I have some understanding about why that happened."
Next to me, Jackie said; "I am so sorry it happened. I promise to try very hard to make sure it never happens again."
"I believe you. I believe it was an inadvertent mistake and I believe you will try hard to make sure it never happens again."
"Thank you Artie."
"Jackie, we're both human and we both make mistakes. If our marriage is going to work we have to be able to forgive each other when we do make mistakes."
"I agree Artie."
I put my arm around Jackie. She laid her head on my shoulder and cuddled up to me. We sat together enjoying the close touch of each other's bodies for a minute and then Jackie said, "Artie there's something else I want to discuss."
"What is it?"
She sat up and looked at me. "I'm concerned that you're worried that I might fall in love with one of my playmates. Artie that's the word I want to use to describe the men I'm meeting for sex. They're not lovers. Love isn't involved in anything we do. We fuck, we don't make love. You're the only man I make love to."
"Okay."
"As to the possibility that I might fall in love with one of my playmates, I don't think it's very likely."
"Why?"
"That's not how it happens. Almost all the men I play with are married and they aren't interested in leaving their wives or disrupting their families; especially not for me."
"Why especially not for you?"
"Because they know I'm a slut. They know I'll cheat on them and most men want a wife who will be faithful to them. Their egos can't handle infidelity. That also makes me lousy wife material for my single playmates."
"I see."
"I might fall in love with another man."
I looked at Jackie.
She quickly added, "I think it's even more likely that you might fall in love with another woman."
"I won't."
"Artie, you're so naive that you won't even realize it until after it's happened."
"No, that's not true."
"It would happen like this. A first year English teacher will be assigned to the classroom next to yours. She'll be young, pretty and single. Being a kind and considerate man, you'll help her get started. At first you'll get together in her classroom after school so you can assist her with her lesson plans or give her advice about classroom management. It won't take long before you'll be meeting in one of your classrooms just to unwind and talk. Your conversations will last longer and longer. You'll start finding excuses to stay at school later and later. One afternoon you'll kiss. It will happen spontaneously, but it will be the beginning of the end of our marriage."
"You kissed Clayt tonight and I'll bet you kiss Ron too."
"I did kiss Clayt and I do kiss Ron, but that isn't the kind of kiss that I share with them. I only share that kind of kiss with you. You know what I'm talking about; a kiss filled with love, tenderness and emotion. There wasn't any tenderness or love in the kisses I shared with Clayt tonight. They were all kisses of lust. They were nothing more than a form of foreplay."
"Okay, I understand." I took a moment to think about what Jackie had just told me and then I said; "I won't do that, I won't let myself fall in love with another woman."
"I'll try not to do it either, but that is how married people fall in love with other people."
I chuckled. "Our marriage is probably less likely to end in divorce than a conventional marriage."
"As long as we're honest and we keep talking to each other, I think that's probably true. Our marriage came dangerously close to ending yesterday, but that was my fault. I wasn't being honest with you and I wasn't paying attention to your needs."
"I also wasn't assertive enough about getting my needs met."
"No Artie, that's my responsibility."
"Your responsibility, why?"