©Copyright September 2001 by Ezra Zane.

When I arrived home from work on Friday, Marilyn's car was in front of the house. The guilt that was eating at my guts took another bite and I reached for the Rolaids as I parked my car in the garage.

When I walked in the back door, Carol greeted me and kissed me softly on the lips. "Hi, honey. How was your day?" That loving, knowing expression was on her face. That look always made me wary, as if she knew something I didn't know, but should.

"Long. The week was long." I saw Marilyn leaning against the doorway into the family room. It was the first time I'd seen her socially since Bob's funeral two weeks ago. Oh, I'd seen her at the lawyers' office when we discussed Bob's estate, but that's not the same.

"We need to talk. Go say hello to Marilyn while I make you a drink," Carol said.

Marilyn smiled and hugged me fiercely with our bodies pressed together. "I've missed you," she whispered in my ear.

"I've missed you, too," I said, and I had. I hadn't gone two weeks without seeing her in years.

I plopped down in my recliner, took off my shoes, and set them by the chair. Marilyn sat on the couch opposite me. There was a tiny smile on her face. I hadn't seen her smile since he died. God, I'd missed that smile. Carol brought me my drink, kissed me deeply, and sat down by Marilyn. I reached for the Rolaids again.

"I know what's eating you, Jim, and we've got to talk about it. I'm afraid it'll kill you," Carol said. "I love you. I love you with all my heart. I've loved you since that first date the first weekend of my freshman year."

"I know," I replied. "And I love you, too. I always have."

"I've never doubted that for an instant, but I know you better than anyone knows you. I may know you better than you know yourself." She paused for dramatic effect and her expression made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "And I know Marilyn."

Oh, shit! She knows. She knows, I thought. I finished my drink in one gulp.

"No more booze, Jim. We've got to talk."

"I'm listening," I said.

"Three months after our wedding, Marilyn told me the two of you were having an affair."

My heart was about to explode and the acid boiled up again.

"Did you take your Prilosec?" Carol asked sharply. I shook my head. "I'll get it. Marilyn, get some water."

They both scurried off to return in moments with aid and worried expressions, but they were gone long enough to let me digest what she'd said, and that, more than anything, made my agony decrease.

"Here. You really should take better care of yourself," she said as she handed me the magic pill. Marilyn handed me the water and I gulped it down.

"You've known for twenty-four years?" I said.

"Yes, I have."

"Why didn't you say something?"

Carol looked chagrinned. "I couldn't. I was having an affair with Bob."

"I don't think I heard that," I said.

"Yes, you did," she said. "I was having an affair with Bob while you were having an affair with Marilyn." Marilyn was repressing a laugh.

"You knew?" I asked her.

"I've known since then," Marilyn replied. "When I confessed to Carol, she confessed to me."

"I want to get this straight. You - Carol - were fucking my brother, Bob, while I was fucking Marilyn, his wife?"

"That sums it up," Carol said.

"You're shitting me."

"Don't scream, Jim. I'm right here."

"My God. I don't believe this."

"It's true," Marilyn said.

"It's true," Carol echoed.

"And you both knew?"

"That's right," Carol said. Marilyn nodded agreement.

As I looked at the two woman - one my wife and the other my brother's wife that I'd been screwing for twenty-four years - I knew there was something more each wanted to say. The fire in my belly subsided. I knew it wasn't the medicine. It was the relief from guilt.

"There's something else," Carol said. "Something even Marilyn doesn't know." I'd never seen here look so conflicted and guilty. Marilyn saw it, too, and her eyes cut to me. We waited for Carol to continue.

"I love you, Jim," Carol said with gut-wrenching honesty. She looked away and we waited on her again. When she looked back at me, her eyes were wanton and challenging. "When we decided to have children, I went off the pill," she continued, "But I kept having sex with Bob and I didn't use protection with him."

"Bob could be the father of our children?" I said.

"Yes," she answered. Carol wasn't upset. She was proud.

"Why?"

"For the same reason Marilyn and I decided to keep our affairs secret from our husbands. For the excitement, the thrill, the raw, visceral stimulation of being a secret slut." Carol was aroused, with a wild, wanton look in her eyes. Marilyn was quiet as a church mouse as she took in every nuance of the conversation.

"You liked that?"

"Yes," Carol hissed.

"You like being a secret slut?"

"Yes," she said proudly. She was challenging me. Her back was slightly arched, raising her breasts to me. Her eyes were on fire.

I unzipped my trousers and fished out my cock. "Come here, slut. I have something for you to suck on," I said.

She pounced between my knees. Greedily, she began to suck my cock. Marilyn was cool and calm with a secret smile as she watched my wife acting like a two-dollar whore. I grabbed Carol's hair, pulled her up, and kissed her, a driving, raping kiss. As we kissed, I squeezed her nipple through her clothing. I heard her whimper with need.

I pushed her back down. She tried to reach my cock with her open mouth, but I held her head. "Did you fuck anyone else?" I asked.

"Never," she exclaimed emphatically, but I knew she lied. I shoved her on her back and lifted her skirt. She wasn't wearing panties. She opened her legs wantonly and brought her knees to her breasts. I lodged my cockhead in her slit and she groaned like a bitch in heat.

"Give me a good ride, slut."

Carol came when I drove my cock into her and sweat burst from her like a running stream.

"That's it, Jim. Fuck your slut. Fuck her until she can't walk," Carol whimpered. Another orgasm wracked her.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Marilyn kick off her shoes and wiggle out of her pantyhose and panties. I could see her bush and the bloated lips of her pussy as she began to play with herself.