Chapter 1

"I think I've got it," said my wife.

I was reading the newspaper. "Got what?", I asked, absently.

"That infection there's all the fuss about. You know."

I did, of course. Suddenly she had my full attention. And not just my ears - a bulge formed in my trousers.

"Er - yes, I think so. Anything I can do?"

She looked at me with suspiciously-bright eyes. When she blinked, I could see the teardrops beginning to form. She spoke slowly and distinctly, trying to keep herself under control. "You can fuck me. Right now, please!"

I fumbled with my shoelaces.

"No time for that, you bastard - keep the trousers on!" she shrieked. She already had her pants off, and was crouched on all fours on the rug.

I unzipped, and knelt behind her. Reached between her legs and started fingering her clit."

"Hurry up, Jack! No foreplay - please, just get on with it!" She was nearly hysterical by this time. I hurried. Before she'd finished speaking, my cock was inside her, ramming away well. She didn't seem pleased.

"No! NO! UP THE ASS, YOU IDIOT!"

I gulped. We'd done it a couple of times before, out of curiosity, but she hadn't liked it. I'd enjoyed it a lot, as an asshole is quite a bit tighter than a cunt. I got a kick out of bringing Sue to orgasm, though, so I'd never made an issue of it. She preferred the cunt, so I did too. I stood up.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING? GET BACK HERE NOW!"

"I'm getting some cream, love."

"FUCK THAT! I NEED IT NOW! PLEASE!" Her face was buried in the rug, her hands clasped tightly behind her neck. Her fingers were white with the strain.

I knelt back down, and probed her asshole lightly, then brought my cock up to the target. I tried to push it gently, but as soon as she felt it inside her, she rammed her butt at me and nearly knocked me off balance. I was up to the hilt in her ass, and I wasn't fucking her. She was fucking me. All I could do was try to hold position, as she slammed back at me over and over again. I came in seconds, great spurts of semen shooting up her back passage. We both crumpled to the floor, spooned together, with my cock still inside her. Her breathing was ragged. Well, mine wasn't too steady, either.

Eventually, I disengaged and found her some tissues, then poured us a couple of drinks while she cleaned up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. "What was it like?"

"Like a red-hot knife! Like an army of fire ants, all crawling around in my ass and biting!"

"But it's OK now?"

"Fine now." She smiled, a little weakly. "A bit sore, but there's no way I could have waited while you found something to lubricate me. Get some KY, and keep it in your pocket ready for the next time, please."

"There'll be a next time, then?"

"Oh, yes. Until they find a cure, we'll be doing this every couple of days."

I knew that. The infection - the 'fuck plague', in street slang - hit suddenly, as it had with Sue. One minute fine, the next, the red-hot knives. It had been reported first a month ago. So far, no cure had been found, though a good fuck made it go away for a day or two.

"But... the ass. That's unusual, isn't it?"

"No, Jack. It isn't. Just doesn't get talked about in the papers much. One of my friends has it both ways, front and back. Her boyfriend's delighted!"

"Well, I'm not! I don't like to see you hurting. Maybe I can do something about it."

"Medical research is a little out of your line, surely?"

"I do DNA research. This is some sort of new critter. Maybe I can find something in its genes that can stop it."

"I wish you would, Jack. Until a half-hour ago, I thought it was funny. Sort of like a dirty joke. I'd heard what it was like, but hearing about it and feeling it are nothing like the same thing. Nothing at all. If you can make it stop for good, you'll be making a lot of girls very happy."

"And grateful?" I asked, with an expectant look on my face.

"I'll be grateful for all of them, love. No more 'headaches'. No more 'not in the mood'. Just find a cure, and you can have me any time you want, any way you want."

"It was that bad, huh?"

"It was. And I don't want a lot of pretty girls being grateful at you!"

She didn't mean it, of course. Women never do. But there were other advantages in finding a cure. Rich and famous, for instance. Anything I worked on, in my own time, outside my sponsored field of study, was mine to sell.

I grinned. "Come on then - what are you waiting for?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, put your knickers back on and come with me to the lab. The sooner I get started, the sooner I can claim my reward."

"Now? I'm worn right out!"

"Ok. I can start off here, but I'll need some equipment. I'll go and get it."

"Oh, no you don't! I'm coming with you. And until there's a cure for this, I'm staying as close to you as I can manage."

"You'll be all right for a couple of days. Everybody says so."

"And supposing while you're out my cunt catches fire? Do I wait here screaming for you? No way! I'd be out of the door and raping the first man who came along."

"What? Even poor old Ellis from next door?"

"Even him. He's eighty years old, takes ten minutes to pass by our window, and smells like a badger, but I just know I'd not be able to stop myself!"

She chuckled. I chuckled. Then, suddenly, we were both howling with laughter at the released tension, and the vision of poor old Mr Ellis lying prone on the pavement with Sue sitting astride and riding him for all she was worth.

Eventually, we mopped our eyes and headed for the laboratory. It was out of hours, but as a senior researcher I had 24-hour access. To all parts of the building, which was useful, as our first stop was the medical research section.

I pointed to an examination couch. "Pants off, on there, butt upwards, please."

Sue complied. I applied a neutral lubricant to her anus and to the speculum I was holding, then inserted it.

"This shouldn't take long," I said. "Sorry for any discomfort."

"Don't worry, your lordship. It's been stretched recently, remember?" I certainly did!

With the anal sphincter stretched open, I was able to shine a light inside. As I'd expected, there were some purplish nodules, pinhead-sized, on the rectal walls. I carefully scraped some off, and put them in a small jar containing warmed nutrient. After I'd taken the speculum out, Sue sat up and looked at the jar.

"That's them?"

"Don't you mean 'those are they'?"

"Tonight's been pretty weird. I'm taking a time-out from grammar. None of my students are around, you're not going to say anything about tonight - are you?" - I shook my head - "so if I want to break the rules, I will. If I feel the need to wantonly split an infinitive, I'll just go ahead and do it. So - that's them? Did you get them all?"

"That's them, yes. But I didn't get all of them. There are hundreds, and from what I've heard, there's no point in trying to get them all. They just grow back."

"You've heard?"

"Yes. There's a little research going on right here in this lab. You're not the first lady with your problem to lie on this couch. So, first thing tomorrow, I'm coming in here to pick some brains. Find out what they know that I don't, add in whatever I know and can find out, and we'll see where we go from there."

I dropped the speculum into the steriliser tank. This was the Medical Research section's biggest triumph - a liquid that sterilised thoroughly, without heat. Bacteria, viruses - even the little almost-alive prions - every particle of organic matter was taken apart by it. It had been sold all over the world, and had made a fortune for our laboratories. A godsend to the medical profession, it had also been used by at least one murderer as a high-tech way of disposing of his victim. Still, as I pointed out to Sue at the time, there's no such thing as a completely benign scientific discovery. Everything good can be used for something bad, given enough imagination. I picked up another speculum, and a fresh nutrient jar.

"Right. Back on the couch, face up this time."

"What for? Nothing wrong up there... yet... Oh. I see."

"That's right. I'd like to catch some in the early stages if possible."

She lay down without protest, knees up and wide apart. I used the speculum and light again.

"Anything there?" asked Sue.

"As a matter of fact, there is. There were hundreds in the rectum, but there seem to be thousands here. Only they're pink, not purple. So, maybe not active yet." I took my samples, closed the jar and removed the speculum.

Sue sat up. "Are we done yet? Can we go home?"

"I intend to work here all night. But I'll take you home first."

"No way! Like I said, I'm sticking right next to you!"

"Not a chance. You've got your work - there are a lot of kids looking to you to help them get their degrees. And I've got mine. Which I won't be able to do with you hanging around looking for sex all the time, like some overage groupie!"

"Overage? At least I've still got a full head of hair, not like some people here." She knew where to aim the low blows, all right. That's what ten years of marriage does. "And I won't be after sex all the time, mister! Just when I need it!"

I grinned at her. "And where were you when I needed it? All those years, all those tears, pleading, bleeding..."

"Not the same, and you know it. You just felt a little bit of pressure from your gonads, that's all. NOT red-hot fire-ants!"

"I give in! Just don't hit me again! Seriously, though, you can't give up your work and haunt this place... look, since the 'treatment' lasts nearly two days, suppose I give you a workout every day. Then you're safe."

"Both sides? Every day? Are you up to it?"

"You bet I am, love! I know we normally only make out once a week if I'm lucky, but I'm good for a lot more than that!"

"Can you prove that? Right now?"

We had a wonderful time on that examination couch. Usually, when we made love I had to try very hard to delay orgasm, to give Sue a chance to enjoy herself. This time, not only was she in the right frame of mind at the outset, but I'd already had my balls milked once that evening, and could last more or less as long as I wanted. And I did. After her fourth - or maybe fifth - climax, I finally let myself go and filled her cunt with the same creamy goop that had done her ass so much good an hour or so earlier.

She tottered off the couch, standing with some difficulty. I junked the disposable covers and started to sterilise the plastic surface.