It's Just Sex Ch. 02

I originally started this expecting it to run over 5 or 6 pages but somehow it grew into 72,000+ words and I ended up splitting it into seven parts, mainly for ease of reading. For that reason, I've placed it in Novels and Novellas rather than Romance or Loving Wives, either of which might also have been a suitable genre for it.

Please note all 7 parts are written and will be released to Literotica as and when I finish editing them (hopefully that will be weekly).

I make no apology for the fact that my characters are flawed; they make poor decisions and bad choices but somehow they manage to enjoy a happy ending. That's just how I like them. So, if you prefer your story's a little more sugar coated then perhaps this isn't for you.

Constructive criticism is, as always, welcome but please remember it is just a story, the people don't exist and the situations never happened.

At least not as far as I know.

Please enjoy.

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It's Just Sex - part 2

For the remainder of the week my husband and I barely spoke, the icy chill that had settled over us on the Monday deepening as the days went by. Only the necessities of cohabiting requiring us to undertake the briefest of conversations.

I had relegated Jon to the spare bedroom once again and, helping to keep the peace between us, he ensured he was up and out of the apartment before I was awake, invariably coming home late in the evening.

It meant that for the rest of the week there was basically no interaction between us.

My only distraction during this time was my work. Although that did nothing to ease the misery of the fact I was spending the evenings alone in front of the television. Sat there by myself, thinking about how my marriage was falling apart, just left me feeling lonely and depressed.

I loved Jon, I was certain of that, but now, after the events of the past couple of weeks, I wasn't sure that we could be together or even if he loved me.

However, the thought of separating, and maybe even divorcing, left me desperately unhappy.

But, on the other hand, with the issues affecting us, I couldn't see how we could have any sort of life together.

With all that in mind I found the prospect of having to spend the upcoming week-end with my husband, to be something I was dreading.

'Would we just argue?'

'Could we try to talk things through?'

'Would we end up saying things we would regret?'

Whichever way I looked at the situation we were in I felt apprehensive as to what the future might bring.

Managing to get through to the Friday I spent the morning unable to concentrate on work, my mind occupied with spending the next two days living in the icebox that was currently my home.

Getting a sandwich for my lunch I sat at my desk, phone in hand, pondering whether I should try to call my husband and ask him to find somewhere else to stay until he went back to work on the Monday.

As quickly as the idea came to me I dismissed it. Spending time apart wasn't going to help our marriage or solve the problems we had, although I didn't see how being together would help them either.

Sighing resignedly, I picked up my phone and started to key in a message to Jon; asking him when he would be home and if we could talk.

I was half-way through typing when my mobile vibrated in my hand with an incoming call.

However, it was the caller's id that surprised me; Deanna Richardson.

'Why was she calling me?'

'We hadn't spoken since that Monday.'

Taking a deep breath, I answered hesitantly.

"Hello Deanna."

"Hi Taylor. How are you?"

"Not great really. Things aren't particularly good between Jon and I right now."

I decided to be honest with her right from the start. She knew what the situation had been and I was fairly certain that Selwyn would have been keeping her appraised of my marital problems.

"Yes, I heard. That's why I'm ringing you."

"Oh, right." Was all I could think of to say.

"I wondered if we could meet up tomorrow? Maybe have a coffee and a chat then do some shopping?"

Taken aback I paused for a moment. Meeting up with Deanna would get me out of the flat and away from Jon for some of Saturday, that in itself would be something worth meeting her for.

"Err yeah... I suppose we could. Just tell me where and when?"

We spent the next few minutes making arrangements and when I finally closed the call I knew I would be meeting Deanna at a popular coffee shop in the town centre at ten o'clock the following morning.

I was in the kitchen preparing my dinner when my husband walked through the door, coming home much earlier than usual that evening.

"Oh, hello. What are you doing home?"

Surprised, I spoke without thinking.

Jon was equally shocked at my greeting and took a moment to respond.

"I... err... I need to shower and change. I'm going out to dinner."

His comment left me speechless. If he was going out for a business dinner he would normally have gone to the restaurant straight from the office. Did the fact he had come home to shower and change mean it was something else.

"Who... who with?"

My heart had started to race as, forgetting about our current differences, I found myself becoming more than a little anxious about who he might be seeing.

"It's no one you know. Her name's Lauren Caldwell and she's an important client that Selwyn has asked me to entertain."

"You don't usually come home to change when you're out on a business dinner." I stated rather acerbically.

"Oh, well, I... umm... I thought...."

"Is she pretty?"

My stomach tightened as I asked the question, an unexpected surge of jealousy filling me.

"Err... yes, I... umm... I suppose so." He shifted nervously from one foot to the other, clearly a little embarrassed at his assignation being discovered.

'Was he going on a date with this Lauren whoever she was?'

'Had he already cheated on me?'

'Did this mean our marriage was really over?'

Almost immediately he answered me my mind filled with a number of questions that I wanted answers to but was too scared to ask him.

"Oh."

Hurt, anger, jealousy; were all amongst the plethora of emotions that raged inside me as all I struggled to utter any sort of response.

For a moment or two he simply looked at me, his face a picture of dejection.

"I'd better get ready then." He stated flatly.

"Sure." Turning away from him I went back to my dinner preparations, sniffling as I fought to stop myself from crying in front of him.

I was just about to eat when he reappeared from the spare bedroom thirty minutes later.

"Will you be coming home tonight?" I asked sharply, glaring at him.

"It's a business dinner." Jon said forlornly, "I'm not cheating on you Taylor. Despite how things are between us I do love you."

"Do you? I'm beginning to wonder."

He sighed wearily, "I don't have time for this. Think whatever you want to. I have to go."

Picking up his keys and wallet he looked at me and shook his head before walking out, leaving me staring miserably after him.

With my appetite gone I tipped my meal into the bin and, opening a bottle of wine, I sat on the sofa sobbing my eyes out, trying to collect my scattered thoughts.

I had spent all my time blaming my husband for the situation we found ourselves in but, in truth, I knew I had to accept some of the fault. I had encouraged him to take the job with Selwyn and, when the problems began, I had done nothing and just brushed over the cracks while enjoying the financial rewards.

However, the simple fact of the matter was that I loved my husband and I knew that if I wanted to save my marriage I was going to have to fight for it.

The question I had to answer was how?

That was the one thing occupying my thoughts when I took myself off to bed although, feeling a little drunk after finishing the bottle I had opened, it wasn't very long before I was asleep.

Waking to the sun streaming through my window I realised I hadn't heard Jon come in the night before and started to panic. I hoped that, as I had fallen asleep pretty quickly, perhaps I had simply missed him coming home.

'What if he wasn't here?'

'What if he had slept with Lauren whatever her name was?'

My heart was pounding nervously as I tiptoed out of my bedroom and saw the door to the spare room was closed. As quietly as I could I opened it and almost cried with delight when I saw Jon under the duvet, still asleep.

That he had come home after all, regardless of anything else, left me with a feeling of relief.

Not that I had a lot of time to dwell on the matter. It was already nearly nine and I was supposed to be meeting Deanna at ten o'clock, so I needed to hurry if I wasn't going to be late.

Grabbing a cup of tea, I headed to the bathroom for a quick shower before retiring to my bedroom to get dressed.

It was a good thirty minutes later when I finally emerged, make-up on and fully clothed, to find Jon was now up and in the kitchen making himself a drink.

"Have a nice time?" I asked, a lot more caustically than I intended.

"Err... yeah. it was ok."

"Was she good?" Giving vent to my insecurities I enquired hurtfully.

"I told you Taylor it was business. I'm not cheating on you."

"So you say." The sneering response I gave him was again perhaps a little undeserved.

"For Christ's sake what do you want from me?"

"Right now, nothing. I'm going out."

"Where?"

"It's none of your bloody business." I tried to keep my voice calm and even.

"I... I thought that we might talk. Maybe try to sort things out."

"I'd like to sort out why you'd take me to a wife-swapping party." The comment came out before I could stop myself, "Where some pervy old man was going to fuck me."

My husband rolled his eyes and, deciding discretion was the better part of valour, changed the subject.

"Are you going with anyone?"

"I'm meeting Deanna at ten." I declared, picking up my bag and disappearing out through the front door, before he could ask me anything more.

I was just a few minutes late and she was waiting outside the café as I hurried up to her.

"Sorry. Jon wanted to talk."

"It's ok hon, not a problem." Deanna smiled as she greeted me, giving me a hug, "Coffee?"

"Yes please, I'd love one." I responded, hugging her back before following her inside.

"So, what's going on between you two?" She wanted to know as we settled ourselves at a quiet table with two cappuccinos.

Immediately the tears started to roll down my cheeks as I hesitantly told her about the previous evening and how Jon had come home to change before going out with someone called Lauren Caldwell.

"Do you really think he's cheating on you?" Deanna asked me when I finished.

Sniffing I shook my head, "No. I... I don't know. I don't think so. Not yet anyway."

"But you think he's going to?"

Wiping my eyes I nodded, "Things are so bad between us at the moment I... I think he might."

She looked at me thoughtfully for a minute as she sipped her coffee.

"Is this over the party?"

"Partly." I confirmed, "Although if I'm being honest things weren't great before then."

"Why?"

"I let things between us drift when I should have done something. He was working so hard, doing long hours and travelling and I... I just accepted it when I should have talked to him and tried to put it right."

"And now? What do you want?"

For a moment I just stared at Deanna as I thought about what she had just asked me.

'What did I want?'

Until I answered that question there could be no moving on, no trying to fix things.

"I love my husband. I... I want to save my marriage."

It was almost a relief to admit it to someone else.

"Good girl, that's what I expected you to say." She smiled at me, "Now all we have to do is work out how to do it."

Unable to stop myself I chuckled, "I guess maybe the first thing is for us to start becoming intimate again, but I think that's going to be easier said than done."

"Well, you know there is one way to make that happen."

I knew immediately what she meant, "How will that help?"

Deanna reached over and took my hand, "I reacted just like you when Selwyn first suggested it to me."

"So, how did you... you know, become a..."

"A swinger?"

"Ummm.... Yeah." I blushed, the ease with which she said it was almost embarrassing.

"Strange as it may seem I love Selwyn so in the end it was simple. If I wanted to be with him then I had to accept him for what he was."

"But having sex with other men? Knowing your husband was doing it with other women?"

Deanna grinned, "I wasn't little miss innocent when I got married. I'd been pretty wild in my younger days. A bit like you I guess."

"So, you were ok with it?"

She shook her head, "No, not really. It was difficult the first time but afterwards the sex with my husband more than made up for it, it was like we were teenagers again. So, I did it again and I started to enjoy it. I just wish I'd had someone like Selwyn for my first time."

"But some of the men at your party. They were old and.... and creepy."

Throwing her head back Deanna laughed out loud making a few of the customers look around.

"Yes they are older but they have a lot of experience." She leant closer to me and lowered her voice, "Trust me on that."

"I... I don't know if... if I could do it with someone like that."

Her expression hardened, "I'll be straight with you honey. As I see it you have two options. Either you do or you don't. The choice is yours.

"If you do then you'll find Jon and you enjoying great sex afterwards and probably saving your marriage. I know that's what happened between me and Selwyn."

"And if I don't?"

She shrugged, "If things carry on the way they are then you might just drive him into the arms of another woman. I'm not saying you will but it is a possibility."

"I know." I said miserably, knowing she was right.

"Talk to him." Finishing her cappuccino she put her cup down, "All you have to do is remember.... it's just sex, nothing more, nothing less. I mean it's not like you haven't done it with anyone else."

"I... I suppose." I sniffled.

"Now, enough. Let's go shopping?"

Throughout the rest if the day I considered what Deanna had said turning it over in my head as I slowly came to a decision.

It was close to six o'clock that evening when, loaded down with bags and my mind made up, I walked into the flat to find my husband on the couch with the television on.

"Taylor!" He jumped up and looked unhappily at me, "Honestly nothing happened last night. It was just a business dinner."

Putting my bags down I looked straight at him, "I know, but the way things are its really just a matter of time before you do look elsewhere isn't it?"

"No, that's not true. I won't cheat on you."

I smiled thinly, wanting to believe him but knowing the truth of the matter.

"You say that now but you will. When you don't get that promotion and our problems become too much for you, you'll end up finding someone else."

Jon shook his head, "That's not true. I love you."

"I love you to but we have to face facts. We aren't going to overcome all the issues we have by ignoring them."

"So, what are you saying?" The expression on his face was one of confusion.

Taking a deep breath, I continued on remembering my conversation with Deanna earlier.

"You want to join Selwyn's group don't you? If for no other reason than to get that promotion and to fuck his wife?"

He looked at me without answering, trying to comprehend exactly what I meant.

I gave him a moment before I carried on.

"It's ok Jon, you can admit it. After talking to Deanna, I think I'm starting to understand things a little better."

"I'm sorry, that still doesn't explain anything."

I sighed realising I would have to spell my decision out for him, "If joining their group is the only way to get us back together then that's what I'll do."

"You... you will." He stared at me in disbelief.

Biting my bottom lip I nodded, "I love you and if that's what it takes for us to stay together, then yes."

With so much on our minds we didn't make love that night, instead we just held each other as we lay in bed and, talked. I don't know about Jon but, at least to me, it felt as if I was closer to my husband than I had been at any time over the past year or more.

Deanna had told me the next party was more than two weeks away but I was already nervous about my decision.

'Could I actually go through with it?'

'How would I feel about my husband being with another woman?'

'How would people react to me after my outburst the last time?'

As the days passed by my concerns about what I was intending to do increased proportionately and, apart from work, the only respite from the worries that plagued me were my occasional meetings with Deanna.

I found attempting to talk about the upcoming evening with my husband difficult and so I tried, as often as I could, to get together for a coffee with her. We even managed to go to dinner a couple of times as she did her best to keep me relaxed and answer the multitude of questions that seemed to continually fill my brain.

Jon and I did make love though. His passion for me clearly renewed with the prospect of the forthcoming party.

Waking early on the Saturday morning I struggled out of bed and sat down with a cup of tea, trying to calm my nerves even though I knew I still had twelve hours to go before the party was due to start.

Jon endeavoured to be supportive, wanting to know if there was anything he could do, but as soon as I snapped at him he thought better of it and left me alone with my thoughts.

For a while I sat by myself, staring out of the window, contemplating calling everything off when my solitude was disturbed by a knock at the door.

"Deanna." I managed to say, taken completely by surprise when I saw her standing there.

"Right, get yourself ready."

Without waiting to be asked she brushed past me into the flat.

"But.... why? What are you doing here?"

She turned back to me and smiled, "We're going shopping to buy you something stunning for tonight."

"I don't understand?"

"If you're anything like I was you'll be a bag of nerves by this afternoon so we need to take your mind off tonight and find you a dress that will knock Selwyn's socks off."

Again, I looked at her with surprise at her statement, "You're assuming I pick his keys out of the bowl."

"Oh, don't worry about that. These things have a way of happening." She grinned knowingly at me.

"But..."

"Just go and get showered and dressed while I make myself a cup of tea. Then we have some serious shopping to do."

Barely a half hour later we left the flat and headed into town.

Spending the best part of three hours trawling through several boutiques I must have tried on two dozen dresses before we were done. The outfit that Deanna insisted I buy was absolutely perfect, at least according to her it was.

My opinion however was a little different; I thought it made me look a little slutty but I eventually yielded to her decision and bought it.

I could feel myself becoming more agitated as the day wore on and the party got even closer, which was when Deanna insisted on treating the pair of us to a couple of hours of pampering.

It didn't help and I was still unable to properly relax.

By the time the pair of us exited the salon with our hair and make-up done, our nails freshly painted and both of us fully waxed, I was so tense I felt nauseous.

I hadn't expected to be out that long and it was getting close to five o'clock by the time I eventually got home to find Jon wondering where I had got to.