Thank you to neuroparenthetical for helping to edit this piece.
** If you enjoy the story, please RATE, because the trolls certainly will. Thank you. **
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The next morning, Sarah awoke to Tom gently nudging her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see him standing next to the bed with a glass of water.
"Thought you may be a little hungover," he said, handing her the glass and two Tylenol tablets.
"Thanks," she croaked, propping herself up onto her elbow. She chased them down with the water, handed the glass back to her husband, and eased back down onto the pillow. She surveyed the room and realized she was in the guest bedroom. The clock on the night stand read 10:20 AM. The events of last night came rushing back as a blur.
She remembered leaving Tom to return to the master bedroom where Jake had been waiting for her. They had had sex again, but it had been nothing like the first time. Jake had crawled between her legs and, after a bit of a struggle, finally worked his cock back inside of her. He hadn't been as firm as he had been; the alcohol had finally caught up to him. After thrusting into her for ten minutes, he'd finally given up, realizing Sarah hadn't been getting nearly the same enjoyment out of the second round.
Jake had apologized, but she'd told him it was okay. She'd been exhausted herself, so she hadn't been overly disappointed. Once she'd heard the front door close behind him, she'd laid back down in the darkness, replaying what had happened. The pangs of guilt had set in quickly. Finally, she'd gotten up and tiptoed back down to the guest bedroom.
She'd been surprised to see Tom turned on his side, fast asleep. The neck tie that had secured his hands had been lying on the edge of the bed. She'd carefully crawled in next to him and wrapped her arm around him, holding him tightly and pressing her breasts against him. She'd soon fallen asleep.
"What -- what time did you get up?" she asked sheepishly.
Tom sat down on the edge of the bed. "Just a few minutes ago."
Sarah struggled to read his expression. "How did you...?" She let her words trail off, glancing down at the discarded necktie.
His smile was soft, and his voice matched it. "By the time you left, it had become pretty loose. I managed to slip out of it."
Sarah looked puzzled. "Why didn't you -- I mean, you could've stopped us before we-- you know."
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I thought about it, and maybe at some point I might have, but it didn't sound like it was going very well anyhow."
Sarah couldn't help but smile. She pulled a pillow over her head, letting out a groan.
"Performance issues?" Tom asked, a knowing smirk spreading across his face.
"Yeah," Sarah replied, sliding the pillow back off her head. "I guess so."
Their eyes met, and despite the uneasiness of the situation, both laughed out loud.
"Oh my god," Sarah said, rubbing her forehead. "Things just got really... out of control."
Tom could hear the regret in her voice. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Tom," she said, sitting up and putting her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I should never have done that -- not with him."
Tom lowered his head, but said nothing.
"I got way too caught up in everything, and I think I began to get confused about what you really wanted -- how far I should take things. You just seemed so turned on by what happened with James, and even more so how I taunted you about it. I thought this would take it to a whole new level for you, but I shouldn't have gone as far as to involve your friend."
"Right," Tom replied solemnly.
Sarah saw the sadness in his eyes, and her heart ached. "Actually, that's not altogether fair either. I can't say it was just because I thought it turned you on. It was something I wanted as well, and I shouldn't put it on you or say that I thought it's what you wanted. I should have talked to you about it -- certainly before what I did last night. I'm sorry, Tom." Tears began to spill down her cheeks.
Tom reached out and brushed one away with his thumb. "I know," he said softly.
"Things are so fucked up," she whispered. "Please don't be too angry at Jake. He would never have done it, you know... on his own. I -- I told him it turned you on -- that you would like it. I don't know what I was thinking."
Tom took a deep breath and sighed.
"So, where do we go from here?" she asked softly.
He pulled her in closer to him, wrapping his arms around her and nestling her head against his chest. "We've got a lot to figure out. It's not all your fault. I started this, remember, and a lot of this is painful -- and humiliating. Look: the truth is, even though it's hard to wrap my head around it, I can't say I didn't enjoy it in some strange way -- at least most of it... hell, maybe even all of it; I don't know."
Sarah hugged him tightly. "Maybe we should just go back to how things were between us, before all of this. It was simpler, don't you think?"
Tom hesitated for a moment before responding. "I don't think that's possible, Sarah -- not after everything that's happened. I also don't know that we want to go back -- at least not exactly to how things were. Can you honestly say that's what you want?"
Sarah thought about his question for a moment. Over the preceding months, she'd felt their marriage becoming stale. When she thought about the past few weeks, everything that had come before seemed conventional and uninspiring. She knew she needed to be honest with her husband for their relationship to stand a chance.
"I guess not," she replied. "So what do we do?"
"I'm not sure. I guess we keep talking about it -- about our wants and needs... our fantasies, but also about our fears and insecurities. Perhaps some boundaries are in order. Maybe in doing that, we can find a way to make this work in a way that makes us both happy. Frankly, I don't think we're that far apart in what we want. It may just take me a bit of time to come to terms with it." He paused to wipe another tear from his wife's cheek. "The most important thing is that I love you, and that no matter how we decide to move forward, we do so together. I don't want to lose you."
Sarah looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but the look on her face was resolute. She nodded. "I love you too, Tom, and I want to make this work -- whatever it takes."
They held each other in silence, both enjoying the closeness after the intense days they had just endured. Finally, Tom leaned back from their embrace and patted her leg. "How about you go grab a shower while I make us some breakfast?"
