sounded pretty insistent on the
phone; not like him at all, he’s one of the most laid back people I know. One
of my oldest mates, I’ve known him for about twenty years now. Like me, he’s in
his mid-forties and hugely successful in his own area of business. He’s married
but unlike me, he has no kids and his wife, Alana, is about fifteen years
younger than him and gorgeous to supermodel standards.
Mark
even looked harassed when he came to the door. He had always managed to look
much younger than his chronological age but tonight he looked every one of his
forty six years. I met him with a cold beer ready in hand and showed him into
the lounge, where the FA cup match was already warming up and my lovely wife
Suzi had littered the place with man snacks. Suzi herself was pottering around
in the kitchen, preparing some hot snacks and on hand to top up the drinks as
required.
We made small
talk for a while and then I launched straight in. “You’ve been my best mate for
half my adult life and I’ve never seen you like this before. Are you gonna tell
me what’s wrong or do I have to beat it out of you?”
Mark looked
relieved. He had clearly been waiting for some time to download and I got it
all at once. “It’s Alana,” he started. “We’re going to have to divorce.”
“Whoa!” I said.
“Where did that come from?”
“Damion,” he
said. “She’s a sex maniac. I’ve always known that and it’s worked well for the
last few years if you know what I mean.” I knew exactly what he meant, the
couple were regular swinging partners of ours. Mark continued. “The problem is,
I’m not enough for her any more. It’s gone well beyond wife-swapping, she’s
having regular affairs and seeing other men behind my back. In fact it’s so
bad, she’s cheating on the men she’s cheating with.”
I couldn’t say I
was especially surprised. Alana was one of those women whose life revolved
around sex. She didn’t work; why should she when Mark was so rich, and she had
no real hobbies, other than men. Mark definitely had a problem.
Mark continued.
“I know you and Suzi nearly split up last year. How did you sort it out?”
I wasn’t sure my
mate was ready to hear this but what the hell. “Mark, you know I’m into the
BDSM scene in a big way.”
“I know you’ve
dragged me to a few kinky clubs in your time…”
“It’s a lot more
than that, mate. A year or two back, I had a really intense affair with a chick
who was the Ying to my Yang, if you know what I mean?”
“Not sure I do.”
“Where I’m very
dominant, she’s very submissive. The time we spent together let us both develop
and I learned what was missing in my life. That’s what almost killed our
marriage.”
“Okay. So how
did you fix it?”
“Suzi and I had
a heart to heart and she agreed to let me train her to be a fully submissive
wife.”
Mark’s jaw
dropped. “What the fuck does that mean?”
I took a swig
from my beer bottle. “It means my lovely wife agreed to completely put herself
in my hands for a period of training and at the end of it, she discovered
complete happiness was about keeping me happy.”
Mark laughed
loudly. “Okay, you’re fucking with me now!”
“Really?” I
called my wife over. “Honey, come and tell Mark about your training.”
Suzi recounted
what I’d just explained but in a lot more detail; she explained why she had
submitted, how it felt and what she got out of it.
Mark was
completely gob-smacked. When Suzi had finished, he just sipped his beer,
thinking for a few minutes. Finally he came to a decision. “Can you train Alana
in the same way?”
The next day,
Suzi went round for a chat with Alana. She left at ten and didn’t come back
until four. That was some chat; they only live five minutes away. I was waiting
for my wife when she got in. “Well?”
She kissed me
lightly on the cheek. “She’s all yours my darling husband…and Master.”
It took me two
weeks to clear enough
Robert & Lustbader Ludlum