Cucked in the Tropics Ch. 08

*** Disclaimer ***

The following story is a work of fiction. It contains themes of cheating, cuckoldry, voyeurism, exhibitionism and NTR. If this isn't the fetish for you, don't waste your time flooding my inbox with hate mail-- it'll only make me want to write and post MORE cuck stuff (unless, of course, that's your goal...)

Otherwise, I love hearing from fans, and welcome any suggestions, thoughts, criticisms, or fantasy ideas. Enjoy!

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CUCKED IN THE TROPICS Ch. 08

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Jake was pacing the hotel suite. He was fuming. His face was flushed... or that could have just been the sunburn, back with a vengeance. He hadn't bothered to change out of his damp swim trunks, and he still had sand caked to his scalp and his hair.

His mind was a swirling mess of different feelings and emotions. It made him think of spin art when he was a kid-- dropping random colors on the spinning paper and seeing them shoot off to the edges of the page. Jake felt like if his emotions were different colors, the page was a complete mess by now. Every time he thought that he was able to articulate one feeling, it was fleeting and gone-- swallowed up by the next, and the next.

He was scared. Although, that was fleeting-- he was no longer on the island. He was angry-- they had taken a legitimate phobia of his and turned it into a joke. He was humiliated... although he wasn't sure why. There was just something about Callie and Andre sharing in Jake's moment of panic that felt like... he was an outsider and they were the ones with the bond. Nothing about it felt right.

Callie emerged from the shower, wrapped in a towel. She saw the expression on Jake's face. "Are you going to be like this the whole trip?" She asked, resting her hand on her hip.

Jake was taken aback. Callie was never so direct. She was always passive aggressive. If Jake was mad at her, she'd turn it into a "no, you're not mad at me, I'm mad at *you*" silent treatment. That was just her style. But this time, she was flat-out emboldened.

He honestly wasn't sure how to respond. This was new territory. He'd never found himself in this sort of fight with his wife before.

"You guys left me... in the water. When I asked-- no, I *pleaded*-- with you not to." He tried to stay calm about this, tried to control those hazy spiraling emotions. Maybe it was the part of his brain that feared making too many waves, that they'd end up sinking his own ship. He'd always been afraid that if he was just a little too angry, or a little too harsh, the damage he might cause would be permanent.

Callie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Clearly we didn't. We came back for you. He was just kidding around."

It was what they'd both insisted when they eventually returned to collect Jake. Jake wasn't sure how long he'd been marooned on that island. It had felt like hours, but it could have been only minutes. The boat had appeared and Jake had been so relieved that they'd actually come back, that feelings like anger and misery had taken a seat on the back burner.

Only when he was back, safely on the boat, did everything start bubbling to the surface. Andre had grinned from behind the wheel of his big luxury boat. Confident and cocky and swaggering. He looked like king shit, himself. He didn't seem the least concerned that Jake was still trembling, even as he wrapped himself in a towel. Jake's frightened confused expression seemed to amuse the man.

Even worse, Callie was snickering in that soft chuckle that she had. Her smile both funny, and apologetic... like she'd told a joke that was borderline offensive, and her non-committal smile was her way of trying to keep things on the lighter side. Jake looked away from her face, and found his eyes wandering down her curvaceous body-- barely clad in her little white string bikini. She'd been wearing that outfit, looking that sexy, when she and Andre had both conspired to scare the living crap out of Jake. That thought alone felt like a punch to his gut. She was his wife. If she was going to conspire with someone to pull off a prank, it ought to be with him, not against him. Somehow Andre had taken Jake's place by his wife's side, even if only for the afternoon. And the feeling felt wrong. Jake was the butt of a joke that another man had made, and Callie was laughing about it.

"We got you good, my friend," Andre had laughed in his deep powerful voice, back on the boat.

"Yeah, ha ha," Jake replied, sarcastic and miserable.

Callie joined Jake in the front of the boat, sitting down nearby. "He was just kidding around." Callie said, gently touching Jake's shoulder, trying to reassure him.

Jake pulled away, folded his arms across his chest, and looked at the water instead. It was hard to keep the frown from his face. When Jake was young, at a friend's pool party, he'd once been dunked under the water by a bigger kid. It had only been for a second, and meant as a prank, but it had been just long enough that Jake had felt sheer panic at his own helplessness-- his life was at the hands of someone else who was dismissing it all as a "prank". In that single moment that he'd been without air, and without a means to draw breath, his *life* was a prank to someone else. That scared him deeply, and when he finally emerged for air, his first instinct was to cry and immediately go home-- to distance himself from those people. But he didn't. Everyone else would have seen that as an overreaction, and would have viewed Jake as a cry-baby. He'd lightly laughed it off while spending the remainder of the day avoiding the pool and that kid.

Right now, much like back then, Jake had had an awful fright, and he couldn't just laugh it off when his first instinct was to cry and immediately distance himself from the source of his anxiety and humiliation. In this moment, he wanted to go home. To call off this whole trip. To tell Andre to go fuck himself, and to ignore Callie's attempts to placate him until she could find a way to make this up to him.

"Are you mad?" She asked Jake as Andre drove them through the islands.

Jake hadn't responded at all. That was answer enough.

"Want to give it another try?" Andre called jovially from behind the wheel. His voice was light hearted and affable, but his smile was cocky and condescending. Like he was asking 'Had enough yet, tourist?'

"I want you to take us back to the resort," Jake said. It wasn't a bark. But there was a resolve to Jake's voice. He was saying that the party was over.

"Sweetie, he was just kidding." Callie insisted. "It's not a big deal."

The same words that Callie was using now, back in the hotel room, with this incident safely behind them. Her hair was wet from her shower. Her towel showed off her smooth legs. Jake ought to wash off too, but he wasn't in the mood.

"Not a big deal?" Callie's casual dismissal of this whole thing was only making Jake's blood boil. "Why are you defending this? I was a beginner to scuba diving. I didn't know what I was doing."

"It didn't look like that from the boat. You seemed pretty sure of yourself once you were in the water," Callie said, trying to be light hearted about this, but there was still something dangerous about her tone that Jake hadn't encountered before.

"Andre just got done warning me about the dangers of scuba diving," Jake insisted.

"If you were suddenly so scared of those dangers, why'd you get in the water in the first place? Why'd you insist on going at all?"

"Because I didn't think our instructor was going to leave me in open water as a prank."

"First of all, Andre wouldn't have done that if he thought you were in any real danger. In fact, if he didn't trust you to not be able to handle yourself, he wouldn't have even let you go in."

Again, she was defending Andre in all of this. She wasn't taking Jake's side at all, and Jake somehow found that more concerning than being abandoned out in the water-- that his own wife didn't see something wrong with it. But Jake wasn't surprised. This wasn't the first time that Callie sometimes had trouble seeing things from his standpoint. And Jake always found it difficult getting Callie to see things from his point of view.

Regardless, he tried anyway. "I don't understand why he did it at all. What if you'd been the one in the water, and me and Andre had left you behind as a joke?"

Callie laughed dismissively at that suggestion. "I wouldn't have ever gotten in the water. You know that."

Jake didn't share the laugh. He was too frustrated by how she was able to completely avoid seeing things through his eyes. She was good at that. "What if something happened? Something dangerous, and I was all alone? What if my air tank stopped working? Or if I got stuck? Or hurt or whatever?"

"But it didn't. Nothing bad happened. Which just proves my point. It was a joke." Callie turned and headed back for the bathroom to finish drying her hair. Her body bouncing with the steps she took on the balls of her feet.

Jake sighed. They were going in circles. He didn't have many fights with Callie since they got together, but when they did, they always went this way-- in circles without resolution. They'd each claim to be the victim and chase each other around and around. Like most arguments, Jake was tired, and on the verge of giving up. "Where did you guys even go when you drove away?"

Jake hadn't intended the question to be any more than a fleeting comment, but the way Callie suddenly hesitated in her stride was a cause for concern. It was only for a moment that she froze, then continued on to the bathroom, but enough that Jake noticed.

"He wanted to show me something..." Callie said.

Jake's eyes narrowed. Now he was thinking of something else. Something that happened after they'd returned to shore. Jake had been so worked up about having been abandoned at sea, that he hadn't given it much thought at the time, but it must have stuck with him enough that he had even bothered to remember it at all.

They had just arrived at the dock. Jake had been out of the boat and back on dry land before Andre had even tied the boat in place. The feeling of being back on mainland was an overwhelming relief. But he'd been mad. He'd been mad at Callie, and he'd been furious with Andre.

He didn't want to look at either one. He stormed across the beach, trekking back to the resort. Andre and Callie had walked behind him.

"Is he okay?" Andre had asked, without any real concern. Jake could hear them, and he'd found Andre's words to be mocking and unworried.

Callie's words had been even more dismissive. "He's fine. Let him pout, and he'll feel better when he's done."

They'd deliberately walked behind Jake, so he could be alone with his thoughts. As they neared the resort, the main beach and pool areas were packed with guests enjoying the beautiful afternoon. Jake paused at one point to wait for Callie and Andre, and when he saw them, they were walking side by side past the crowds of tourists. Andre's big arm was commandingly around Callie's waist. For the briefest moment, the gesture didn't seem like Andre was just being his friendly self-- the way he always had been with his wife. The gesture seemed possessive. "Look at us, everyone. We're a couple. She's mine, and I'm hers." For just a moment, they were the couple, and Jake was the man who once had a wife, but now was walking alone.

Then the moment was gone-- washed away by the tides of Jake's anger from the scuba diving incident.

But now that fleeting glance came roaring back. Callie walking with Andre's arm around her waist, content being steered and led by this stranger with the big muscles, and the six pack, and the exotic skin. Giving no thought to the emotional state of her husband

June's story also came to mind-- the horrible heartbreak he'd suffered. And seeing Callie's momentary stumble to Jake's question, for the first time, he wondered if he needed to be worried for all new reasons.

"Uh huh," Jake said in a sarcastic reply.

Callie spun and reddened. "What?" She asked defensively. "He wanted to give me a tour around the islands. There's over two dozen, and they're all part of a dormant volcanic ring."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Uh huh," he said again. "I'll bet that's all he wanted to show you."

Callie's face reddened more, but instead of embarrassment, he saw a flash of anger. "What are you saying? Are you saying I'm some kind of slut?"

Callie's abrupt choice of words sounded foreign coming from her mouth. Jake found himself so startled, that he back pedaled. "I'm not saying anything like that. I'm saying that he's just like any guy, and he was alone on a boat with you while you're half naked. He was probably hoping he could make something happen, and that's probably why he drove away."

Callie rolled her eyes. "And I'm such a slut that I can't control myself, right? Without your supervision, I'll just fuck any guy that I'm alone with? Well maybe next time, I will, since you think so highly of me. Since you think I'm so much like Mei, maybe next time I'm alone with Andre, I'll make it happen, so you don't have to wonder. I'll do some wild kinky shit with my new friend that I'd never do with you. I'll bet he's got a big dick too. A real big one. What do you think of that?"

Her tone was ferocious. Her eyes were glaring and her cheeks were red. This was definitely not the sweet innocent farm girl from Indiana. Jake wasn't sure what stung him worse-- her expression of raw contempt, or her words and suggestions. As he stood, utterly dumbfound by her outburst, every instinct in his body told him not to push back. To push back meant she might actually make good on that threat. That she would be so mad at him that she would storm out of their room right now and cheat on Jake on their honeymoon. And Jake would be the one to blame, all because he couldn't control his anger at the situation.

"I-I--" he stammered, taking a step back. His stomach felt like he'd been punched hard and deep. His chest actually hurt. His heart felt like it had been stomped on.

Callie's tone was still angry and emboldened. "I'm sorry I didn't wait around on the boat like the good obedient little wifey, while you goofed around underwater all day. Is that what you want? A possession to just sit around and wait for you twenty four, seven? I'm not some dog waiting for its master to come home. You were so preoccupied swimming around-- something that we only did because *you* wanted to-- I'm surprised you even noticed we were gone. We even figured you probably wouldn't have noticed the boat was missing, and we'd come back and you'd be none-the-wiser... probably still swimming around with turtles and fish. Not that it matters. It wasn't all about pranking you, Jake. Andre figured you'd be busy for a while, so he took me on a tour around the islands to keep me entertained. It was nice, and it was fun, and it was exciting. I don't regret it, because you and I haven't done shit on this trip. All you've been doing is laying around in the room for days, and you expect me to do the same? Well sorry that my new friend decided that, once again, laying around waiting for you might not be fun for me. If you're going to be my anchor this whole trip, you may as well just go home."

Her words were like a slap to the face. Was that an ultimatum? 'Stop being mad, or we're breaking up'? He couldn't tell, but the sudden prospect that she might be serious deeply frightened him in a way he'd never felt before. Jake had spent most of his life with Callie in it, and now was the prospect that they might be over, just because he was overreacting to something. It called into question just how valid this entire argument really was. Maybe he'd been right to get upset initially, but was he right to keep harping on this? Was he right to let it ruin their vacation and jeopardize his marriage?

More than that, was Callie right? Her words caught him off guard-- yes, he'd spent a lot of time laying in the room from his sunburn, but he'd thought Callie had been content to entertain herself. Had he been wrong? Had she been miserable and secretly resenting him because of their lack of time together?

The thoughts that her words triggered broke his heart. Jake wasn't even aware that he was doing it until he felt his diaphragm quiver. He was crying.

"Is that what you really think of me?" he asked.

Now it was Callie's turn to be taken aback. She looked genuinely surprised to see Jake's sudden change of direction, and even more surprised to see him cry.

She softened, although her expression was still cautious calculating. "Hey, I'm sorry I said all that," she slipped her arms around him and eased him to the bed. "I was just angry and wanted to make you as upset as you were making me."

Jake nodded, not trusting himself to talk as his breath came in ragged gasps and sniffles.

They held each other for a while on the bed. Jake's head cradled against Callie's chest. She was still in her towel, and her skin was damp and warm, smelling strongly of fresh soap.

"Sorry if I ruined the vacation for you," Jake murmured.

She patted his head in a gesture of 'it's okay'. "Sorry about what happened when we were scuba diving," Callie admitted. "I really didn't think it would bother you as badly as it did."

Jake nodded, deciding he had no reason not to believe that. Maybe he just wanted to. Maybe his thoughts were so muddled with the pain and fear of earlier this afternoon, that he didn't want to fight this battle much longer. It wasn't the kind of thing that he could win, and to continue to push it would only cause irreparable damage to the memories they were hoping to make on this vacation. He wanted to come home with fun stories for their friends and family. He couldn't deprive Callie of that, just because something had bothered him.

They needed to salvage this and move past it. "What would you like to do tonight?" Jake asked. "Anything you want."

"Well there's supposedly a festival happening in town," Callie admitted. "Some sort of celebration of fertility or something. It's a touristy thing, like Mardi Gras, or Day of the Dead."

"It's in town? Is it safe?" Jake asked, remembering that they were advised not to leave the resort.

"It is, but it's crowded with tourists and should be perfectly safe," she explained.

"Did Andre tell you about this?" Jake asked.

Callie hesitated, but admitted that was the case.

Jake held his tongue. He didn't trust Andre. Not after this afternoon, when he'd been assured that they'd watch out for him and Andre had left him in the water to fend for himself. And there was still another matter that Jake hadn't brought up-- the sunken cigarette boat with the body inside. He didn't tell anyone... mostly because of his suspicions of the cartel, and he was brutally afraid that down here, in a resort run by the cartel, saying anything to anyone might be a death sentence. He could easily end up in the bottom of the ocean, just like the corpse. And he definitely didn't want Callie to know. She'd freak out.

Callie must have sensed where Jake was going with his apparent distrust, because she said, "He won't need to come along, if that's what you're worried about. It can just be the two of us."

Jake tried not to let his relief show as much as it did. He almost seemed to sag with relief.

"Okay," he said. His sour mood lifting. "Let's check it out."

***

Jake was feeling a little more relief when he saw the crowds on the streets. These didn't look like the scary depressed impoverished citizens that they'd passed on the drive from the airport. This was a party crowd. This was a celebration.

Neither of them quite understood the festival, but did there really need to be a reason to drink and to party? Most people weren't Irish, but St. Patty's day was still a hit.

People crowded the streets and sidewalks. The sound was tremendous. Parade floats and revelers marched down the streets holding overly large flamboyant paper mache puppets. There was a vibe about it all that reminded Jake of voodoo movies from New Orleans.