Poison Rose (Sequel to "Good Love")

Six

Over the next few months, Duff felt himself starting to get more than a lil restless in his marriage, and he knew exactly why that was happening. Whether he kept in touch with the Dalls–particularly Aerin–or not, he'd never really told his wife about his own interest in kink. He'd simply buried it when she'd expressed absolutely no interest of her own, not wanting to push her and lose one of the best things that'd ever happened to him.

        But now, it was almost like the younger woman'd reawakened that decades-old interest when she'd mentioned being into kink, herself. He wouldn't necessarily say that sex with Susan bored him these Days, and he definitely wouldn't say he'd fallen outta Love with her. What he'd say with absolute certainty–especially after thinking about it for the past few months–was that he was starting to fall for Bobby's wife, as well, and that he missed being able to unleash that other side of himself. If at least getting to be play partners with the young brunette satisfied his kinky side, he'd take it–but he wouldn't deny wanting even more than that, too.

        Sitting down with his wife made the blonde bassist more than a lil nervous, and with good reason, if one asked him. He knew damn good and well she was well aware of his ongoing attraction to Aerin, but just hadn't said anything to him about it. One of the things he'd based his Life on ever since getting sober in the mid-nineties was Honesty, so while he might take a while to speak his mind, he never lied. That was something his wife'd always appreciated and been cool with, so she never pushed him to talk before he was ready.

        "Ya okay, Duff?" she asked as they settled on the couch in their lil private reading nook.

        "Well, I guess the best word for it's nervous," Duff admitted, managing a small smile and a chuckle.

        "If it involves being attracted to Aerin, I'm not surprised." The woman he'd loved and been married to for so long wore a knowing look as she spoke.

        "Somehow, I'm not surprised thatcha already knew without me having to say it," he chuckled.

        "C'mon, Duff–how long've we at least known each other again?" Susan laughed. "I know ya damn near better than ya know yourself sometimes–of course I'ma know when my man's attracted to another woman and when he's not."

        "Touché," the blonde bassist agreed.

        "And I don't care, if you're attracted to another woman," she told him. "It's acting on it–especially behind my back–that'd get to me worse than anything."

        "I think we both know I'd never do that," Duff retorted sternly. "I mighta been that guy when I was drinking, but I haven't been since."

        His wife only Graced him with the sweet smile that he'd loved ever since he met her.

        "But I'm not gonna sit here and lie by saying that nothing's Changed since I met Aerin, either," he sighed.

        "I think we'd both have to be deaf, dumb, blind, and dead not to notice that," Susan said reassuringly.

        "Well, it goes deeper than just being attracted to her." The blonde bassist sighed again as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I mean, yeah–I'd swear I've been falling for her just as much as I once fell for you. But her mentioning BDSM–it kinda reawakened that side of me since ya know I buried it a long Time ago."

        "Yeah, that I do," she agreed, gently squeezing his hand. "'Cuz there's just nothing about that Lifestyle that interests me."

        "And that's always been a bit of a problem for me, but I haven't wanted to push too far," Duff told her as he Returned that gentle squeeze. "Yeah, pushing boundaries can be a big part of BDSM, but not when ya know ya shouldn't."