Chapter 12

February saw our eldest take up an apprenticeship with B.I.G.A. (the Building Industry Group Apprenticeship Scheme). Now that Gary had an income, a car and freedom, we saw little of him except at meal times. However, he is my wife’s boy, so he seemed to always be home for the night if Ness wasn’t on an afternoon shift.

Our youngest, Aaron, had had a few problems with his high school. Behaviour that I considered nothing more than typically boisterous teenage male behaviour had gotten him suspended several times. Conduct that when I went to school would have only resulted in a disgusted teacher sending the offender out to ‘run a few laps to burn off some energy’ constantly got him sent to the ‘Isolation Room’ and/or suspended.

Disgusted by the current state of our education system, an opinion that has only worsened since, we took Aaron out of school and sent him to a trial course at Alexander Hills T.A.F.E. (College of Technical and Further Education). The lecturers in this course treated the attendees like the young adults they were instead of like infants. The change in our son was remarkable. In Year 9 maths, he got 14%. A year later, in Year 10 math, he got 98%.

Vanessa seemed calmer and back to her typical happy, flirtatious self. Our love lives also returned to their usual mixture of slow, emotive, languid petting and stroking, lovemaking with periods of loud, aggressive, bone-rattling, pelvis-smacking, ass-whacking, passionate fucking.

Ness liked me to take her. She wanted me to show my dominance by making her body submit to my advances. During these interludes, my wife didn’t want me to ‘make love to my beautiful soulmate’. Instead, she wanted me to ‘fuck my dirty slut’. Ness said the former made her feel loved and desired, whereas the latter made her feel safe and protected, that her man would destroy anyone or anything that tried to do her harm.

Ness explained that she needed the latter more than the former because my daily actions and responses with her meant she always felt loved and desired, but that she occasionally worried that I’d tire of her ‘slutty ways’ and divorce her. Therefore, she needed me to show her how much I loved eliciting her ‘inner slut’ and that I loved her not despite her slutty behaviour but because of it.

My only concern was that Vanessa hadn’t excitedly described any flirtatious exchanges she’d indulged in with some ‘hot spunk’ she’d met. Nor had she told me about some random guy coming on to her and how she had teased him before shutting him down. And, of course, she hadn’t asked for a ‘day pass’ either, but that wasn’t as unusual as the other two non-events.

However, over the ensuing weeks, our lovemaking evolved into something more akin to what an older, long-time marriage would be. We lacked passion, and our sex became mundane, sporadic and, for me at least, unfulfilling.

Eventually, I asked if everything was okay.

“Of course it is, baby,” Ness crooned, wrapping her arms around me. “Why would you think it isn’t?”

“Because you’ve been unusually restrained, my love,” I growled, frustrated with her. “Or do you expect me to believe that there has not been even one guy you’ve teased because you thought he was hot and not one guy that’s come on to you for an entire month? And if you are saying that, then I want to know who the fuck you are and what you’ve done with my wife!”

Ness tipped her head back and smiled at me with true delight dancing in her eyes for the first time in what seemed like months.

“You like my slutty ways, huh?” She needlessly asked, teasing me.

“Yes,” I said flatly.

“Why?”

“Because they make you and me hot, and the sex is out of this world. But the best part is that I know that none of your dalliances can ever take your heart because you are mine. Now, tell me, what the fuck is going on?”

“I’ll take another pass after you have, my love,” she said simply.

“You’re back on the guilty trip again. Is that what you’re saying?”

“No, not at all, babe,” Ness said, not explaining a damned thing.

“What then?”

“Tell me why you haven’t asked for a pass since we returned from visiting the Monies.”

“Because it would have felt like I was cheating on Tanya,” I admitted.

“It’s me you’re married to, honey,” Ness pointed out. “You’d be ‘cheating on’ me. You will be ‘cheating on’ me when you make love with her.”

“Yeah,” I acknowledged. “But I have your permission to do that as long as I keep you informed. I don’t have Tanya’s.”