This off-shoot is especially for readers who were concerned about Claire Swann, Graham's wife. I'm experimenting with tense and narrative structure, so please do let me know in the comments what you think :)
. . .
When, years ago, the stories broke about Michael Douglas' divorce, I had immense sympathy for his wife, Diandra. Whatever my envious friends - who considered it kind of adorable that Graham and I were always late for parties (the sight of me all tarted up having an aphrodisiac effect on him) and frequently disappeared during the course of the evening, returning flushed and dishevelled - might think, being married to a sex addict was no picnic.
My husband needs sex several times a day. I have no need for an alarm clock: I'm woken without fail every morning at half past five by his weight as he climbs between my legs and slides his fat dick into me. When he gets home from work he likes a more leisurely fuck, usually doggy style in front of our mirrored wardrobes but when the kids are out he likes to take me on the lounge floor, or couch, or on the dining table. Before sleep he wants me again, typically anally. At weekends, on top of all this, he wants my mouth. I don't know how he maintains this sort of stamina in his mid-forties. He shows no sign of slowing down and my only respite comes when he is working away and when he is fucking someone else - although even then when an affair first starts it can have the effect of increasing his libido.
Don't get me wrong: I love to fuck as much as the next girl - probably a good deal more, actually - but once a day would be enough for me, unless it's a special occasion. And he's a great guy, my husband: he's sexy, he's fun, he makes me laugh, he's awesome in bed - and he's extremely easy on the eye. I know he doesn't go actively looking for women, but they find him super attractive and, faced with a woman with a strong will, he is quite unable to resist. You might think this would bother me, but you'd be wrong. I love him, I really do, but his demands wear me out and once he's settled into a bit on the side I can look forward to a well-earned break.
We met at university, where I must admit I had a not-unjustified reputation as a party girl and something of a slut. I was up for most things and Graham was the first guy I'd met who was as kinky as I. We married in our twenties and now have twin eighteen-year-old children, a nice suburban house and a comfortable existence. My husband is a senior engineer. I am a housewife.
It's a Sunday afternoon in October. I have just returned from a spa break with a group of girlfriends, including my closest friend and widowed neighbour, Vanessa. Vanessa drove and I thank her with a hug and a kiss on her doorstep.
{{ A cold Friday morning in February. I am holding Vanessa as she sobs. She is only in her early thirties and is quite alone. Her husband, a lorry driver, stopped to help a stranded woman on the motorway shoulder and a HGV ploughed into them both, killing them instantly. It is tragic, but that's not precisely what she is crying about now. She is crying about feeling helpless and unloved. She is not a practical woman and jobs around the house that her husband would have completed in minutes pile up. She has also just confided that she hasn't fucked a real live man since he died six months ago and she is desperate for sex. She is hooked on porn and gets through mountains of batteries wanking herself off with various sex toys, but it just isn't the same and she's heard too many horror stories about dating agencies and online hook-ups.
I have a sudden brainwave that could work well for us both. I continue rocking her in my arms while her cathartic sobs subside, stroking her dark hair. She's slim and pretty and sex-starved. I'm confident he'll find her irresistible. All my friends know about Graham's continual sexual demands on me: I don't need to explain that. There's only one thing I need to ask her: "Would you like to fuck my husband?"
I've told Vanessa to watch for Graham's car pulling up on the drive and give us an hour. When he gets home, I set about warming him up. He doesn't usually want a blow job on a weekday evening - probably because he fucks his secretary and doesn't want me to taste her on him - but tonight he lets me bury my face between his legs to suck his shaved balls and he groans at the silky sensation of my wet mouth. I bathe his shaft in my saliva and it stiffens and swells. He is holding my head in place and thrusting into my throat when the oven timer goes off downstairs. We ignore it, but Beth shouts up the stairs: "Mum! The pie's ready!" I've waited dinner on him so he can't unilaterally decide his need to cum outweighs the family's need to eat. He growls in frustration and I soothe, "We'll finish after dinner."
We don't, because Vanessa calls the house phone right on time. I answer, listen for a few minutes and say, "I'm sure Graham will be happy to help." I return to the table, where my husband is finishing his fruit salad and say, "I'm so sorry, darling, but Vanessa can't make her shower work. I said you'd go over and take a look at it."
He stares at me. "Right now?"
"Yes, right now. You don't understand, Graham. She's had a terrible day. She was over here crying earlier and this could be the last straw."
He's the best. He doesn't make any more protest, but pushes back his chair and is straight out of the door.
He's gone for hours. Vanessa clearly has a lot of time to make up for and is draining him dry. I retire to bed at half past eleven and drift peacefully off to sleep. I don't know what time Graham joins me as - bliss! - he doesn't wake me. It's not until - a virtually unprecedented - eight o'clock on Saturday morning that I'm woken by a tray of breakfast in the hands of a delectably clean, just-showered husband.
He doesn't ask me to finish what I started the evening before until late morning, just before he and Jack leave for the football. I happily swallow the mouthful of semen he deposits on my tongue, and once the boys have gone I tell Beth I'm popping over to Vanessa's to see how she's doing after yesterday's meltdown.
My friend is looking radiant and I tell her so. Her eyes and hair are shining and her cheeks are pink. She greets me in relief and kisses me gratefully, thanking me repeatedly. She confesses that she was worried I would regret sharing my husband with her. "Not at all," I reassure her. "Any time. I had a brilliant night's sleep - the best since he was last working away."
She pours me a cup of coffee and tells me everything.