Flirtation (and then Hotwifing) is the Solution to Marital Ennui

Communication is key, they say, to making a marriage work. They're right, too, but that phrase is so vague that it borders on being meaningless. After all, most people in a long term marriage will tell you that communication is something of an art form, that being straightforward with your partner is often the path to a terrible fight or even the destruction of your marriage.

You can't always directly tell your partner what you want or what you're feeling. You need to hint at it. Sometimes you need to hint at it repeatedly. Sometimes, even when your partner finally understands what you're talking about they might still find themselves unable to address your needs.

Sydney delivered her message a handful of times. It often came via a comment like, "I don't feel sexy anymore."

"That's absurd," her husband Clark would answer. "You're so sexy, Sydney. Just unbelievably sexy."

He wasn't helping. He didn't understand that at first. He was merely pulling from the playbook that every husband understands after just a few years of marriage. If your wife expresses any sort of self doubt related to her looks, you reply with unwavering positivity. "I don't know about this dress," she says. "You look stunning in that dress, baby. Absolutely stunning," you reply. That usually does the trick, too.

It took quite some time for Clark to realize that Sydney wasn't simply expressing self doubt. It clicked for him one night when she emerged from the bathroom wearing a simple-but-elegant pink satin camisole and tap shorts set. It was different from what she usually wore to bed, but enough like sleepwear that Clark didn't take much notice of it at first.

Sydney crawled into bed and snuggled against him instead of pulling out her Kindle or phone. He looked towards her and she smiled. Her hand moved over his chest. Clark's loins stirred as he hoped his wife was signaling a desire to have sex.

She kissed his neck and he moaned and turned towards her. Their lips met for a slow, deep kiss. His hands moved over her breasts, her stomach, her legs. It was the same sexual playbook he'd followed hundreds of times and it always seemed to work, which is why Clark was taken aback when Sydney pulled away.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked away. "I don't know. It's just...I don't know. I'm sorry."

They didn't have sex that night. For a day Clark was befuddled. Then his brain started putting the pieces together. Sydney talking about how she didn't feel sexy anymore, about how she wasn't sure she was desirable anymore, about if he still thought about her the way he used to. In an instant it became clear that she was expressing dissatisfaction with the romantic part of their marriage. Yes, they still had sex regularly, but it wasn't spontaneous or particularly passionate. Clark thought of it as the kind of sex that married couples had after they passed their tenth anniversary, but it seemed possible that he was being selfish. He enjoyed their sex life, after all, but that didn't mean Sydney enjoyed it.

Clark booked a hotel room. He arrived early and spread rose petals in a path leading to the bed. He bought champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. He bought his wife a dress and an elegant bra and panty set he knew she'd been eyeing. He took her out for a long, expensive dinner of the sort where each course is small and delicate and bursting with flavor. He noted how beautiful she looked, how sexy she was. He quietly commented how badly he wanted her. They went to the hotel. She seemed delighted and surprised that he'd booked it. She loved the rose petals. They had sex twice that night and Clark judged that both times were spectacular, though he experienced a newfound sense of uncertainty when it came to Sydney's enjoyment of the evening.

Over the following weeks and months, Clark maintained his dedication to showing his wife that he lusted after her, that she was sexy, that he wanted more than to follow the same sexual playbook that had guided him for the previous ten years of marriage. He was more affectionate throughout the day. They had sex outside the bedroom with far greater frequency than before, making love in almost every room in the house. They showered together once or twice a week, with Clark working to make it an erotic experience. He offered his wife orgasms while eschewing his pleasure, usually via his tongue - like in the shower - or his fingers. He bought her flowers, cards, and small gifts with greater frequency, too, like he was courting her all over again.

In the midst of his renewed courtship, Clark remembered that they used to go shopping together, that he used to love seeing Sydney emerge from the dressing room in something sexy - clothes or lingerie - that he couldn't wait to take her out to dinner in or, even better, to fuck her in. It was the reintroduction of these shopping trips that spurred on a truly significant change in their marriage.

They were at a high end lingerie shop of the sort that they'd never shopped at before because everything was so damn expensive. Clark was both taken by the lingerie and stunned at the prices of each piece, so much so that he didn't notice the tall, handsome gentleman in a suit eyeing his wife. Not at first, at least.

There were no words spoken between them. Instead, the guy would look and Sydney would notice and smile at him. It was a quick smile and she wouldn't hold his gaze for more than a split second, but Clark couldn't believe it when he first spotted it happening.

After watching for a few minutes it dawned on him that they were flirting. Sydney would brush her hair behind her ear and look at the guy. He would straighten his tie and smile at her. He would walk to a particular piece of lingerie and admire it and then glance at her like he was picturing her in it. Sydney's face blushed a few times, especially when the guy looked at something especially revealing.

Eventually he bought something, gave Sydney one last look, and left. Clark had no interest in getting in a fight with his wife in a store, so he held his tongue as they finished their shopping, walking out with $500 of astoundingly sexy lingerie. His interest in conflict was tempered by his desire to see his wife in the lingerie, which is why he kept quiet on their walk back to the car.

He walked to the passenger door and opened it for her, a gentlemanly concept he'd reintroduced in his new courtship. Sydney smiled as she always did, but this time she kissed him with such fierceness and depth that Clark released the door handle and felt his knees go weak. It was not a parking lot kiss. It was a bedroom kiss.

He felt dazed as she smiled and got in the car. He was hard as a rock, too, and after a few seconds it occurred to Clark that he needed to get behind the wheel to prevent someone from seeing the bulge in his pants.

Sydney kissed him again once he was in the car. She stroked him through his pants, too, luring precum from the tip of his cock and making a small mess in his underwear. As their tongues entwined, Clark boldly reached over and ran his fingers up his wife's thigh and under her skirt. To his surprise, she parted her legs, inviting him to continue his journey to her panties. He found wetness as his journey ended, her cotton panties having gotten quite soaked. She moaned into his mouth as he rubbed her pussy and Clark got bolder, pulling aside the panties to slip his fingers inside her. Sydney broke the kiss and he thought he'd made a mistake, but then she unleashed a long, low moan as the sound of his fingers penetrating her wet pussy filled the car.

They rushed home with Sydney pawing at his cock the entire time. They didn't make it to the bedroom, instead fucking on the living room floor. The sex was mind bending. Far better than any they'd had in a long, long time. Sydney, in particular, was voracious, and she climaxed in a manner Clark hadn't seen in a long, long time.

It wasn't until a few hours afterwards that Clark connected the dots. He felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner that his wife's desire had been fueled by the silent flirtation with the man in the lingerie store. For a few days Clark felt a deep sense of insecurity, like his ego had been assaulted by the sex he'd had with his wife.

Then Sydney seduced him in the lingerie. She walked into the living room and leaned against the wall. She didn't say a word. She just stared and smiled. She ran her fingers over the lace. Clark recognized it as a piece that the man in the store had spent quite a lot of time staring at. The insecurity came back, and yet Sydney looked so good that Clark couldn't help but be drawn to the bedroom. The sex was intense and deeply pleasurable. Sydney drew him into her body over and over, keeping Clark in a wildly aroused state with passionate kisses, sensual moans, and a kind of desperate physicality that wasn't usually on display when they had sex.

The insecurity was largely gone after that night, though Clark couldn't explain why. He didn't think much about it, though. Instead, he went in the opposite direction. He began to plan dates where his wife would have the opportunity to flirt with other men. He'd buy her a dress and take her to a high end bar. He'd go to the bathroom and take his time. When he returned, if Sydney was flirting - either via silent looks or actual conversation - Clark would hang back, joining his wife only when she'd finished. At some point they'd leave, they'd make out furiously, they be all over each other, they'd go home and fuck wildly, sometimes twice in a night, each time fueled by the unspoken arousal they shared at the idea that she enjoyed flirting with other men.

For months their sex life unfolded in this manner, with Clark planning an outing, leaving his wife to flirt - which she got better at as time went by - and then joining her to indulge in the sexual energy that existed between them after she'd garnered the attention of another man. They never spoke of it, though. Not once. He assumed that Sydney knew what he was doing in planning their dates and that she approved, but it seemed to him that they'd come to an unspoken agreement that it was sexier if they didn't openly acknowledge what they were doing.

Then, on an otherwise normal Saturday afternoon, Sydney came home from a trip to the grocery store and dragged Clark to the bedroom. They fucked with the same intensity and vigor as after their flirty outings and Clark assumed that his wife had done a bit of flirting on her own while she was out. He was right about that, though that wasn't the whole picture.

They were cuddling in bed afterwards when Sydney announced, without preamble, "Someone asked me on a date."

Clark stared at the ceiling as his heart began to pound.

"Did you hear me?" she asked softly after a few seconds of silence from him.

"Yes. I did."

"It was at the grocery store, actually. I was trying to pick out a cantaloupe. He showed me how you sniff one end of it and if it smells strongly of cantaloupe then it's ripe. I don't know if that's true, but he was very confident about it. I thanked him and then...well, then he started flirting. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I flirted too. I figured you wouldn't mind."

They never talked about it, which was why Clark was still trying to wrap his mind around the conversation. She was right, though, he didn't mind.

"He was handsome and funny and charming. Good at flirting, too. It went on for a little while. I felt myself getting flush, getting...well, eager to do what we just did. I don't know if he could see that, if he could sense that I was turned on, but he asked if he could take me to dinner."

Clark wasn't sure what how he wanted his wife to answer the question that fell from his lips. "What did you say?"

Sydney moved a little closer, pressing her body tightly against his at as many points as possible. "I said yes."

Clark wasn't surprised to feel arousal at her answer - at the idea of Sydney going on a date with someone - but he was downright astounded at the intensity of the feeling. It was like his whole body came alive with it, like a foreign substance was suddenly flowing through his bloodstream, filling him with a renewed sense of vigor.

They fucked again. Clark could tell that Sydney was surprised by his desire - at first, at least - but she quickly got on board and matched his intensity with her own. The sex lasted longer and they worked their way through a trio of positions, with every thrust infused with Clark's unexpected sense of lust.

A week later, Sydney went on a date with the man she'd met in the grocery store. She wore a flirty red dress and a nice bra and panty set. She was gone for nearly four hours. She and Clark went straight for the bedroom as soon as she walked through the door.

"He's a good kisser," she said before straddling Clark and taking him inside her.

"Is that why you're so wet?"

Sydney nodded while riding him slowly and studying his face. Clark wondered if she was worried about that he might have an adverse reaction to her having kissed another man on her date.

"That's not the only reason, though," she said.

Clark moaned.

"He's also quite good with his fingers."

Sydney sat up and grasped her breasts. Clark's hands found her hips and he helped move them back and forth over his crotch, generating heat in his loins as she bathed his cock in the utter perfection of her warm, wet, tight pussy.

"He fingered you?" he asked.

"He did."

She rode him faster and Clark felt his orgasm building far faster than he would have liked.

"Did he make you cum?"

"He did."

"Oh, fuck."

Sydney slowed her hips until they came to a stop and leaned down to kiss him. Their tongues entwined, but in a slow, romantic manner.

"I thought you might be upset," she said.

"I'm not."

She kissed his neck and moaned softly before her teeth latched onto his earlobe and tugged in a flirty manner. Clark grabbed her ass and tried to get Sydney to ride him a little more, but she resisted.

"What if I told you that I used my fingers, too?"

Again Clark moaned. He had no control over his reactions. It was akin to an out-of-body experience as he really couldn't begin to guess how he'd feel at each new piece of information his wife revealed about her date.

"Did you?" he asked.

Sydney sat up and rested her hands on his chest. Clark looked at them. He wondered which hand had been wrapped around her date's cock. He wondered if she'd made him cum. He wondered where it had happened. His cock seemed to get harder inside her as those questions danced through his head.

"I did. After he fingered me. After I came with his fingers inside me. It didn't seem fair that I get to cum and he didn't."

Clark arched his back to generate a bit of friction for his cock. Sydney smiled.

"Please, baby, I want to cum," he said.

"You don't mind that I gave my date a handjob? That I made another man cum?"

Clark rolled his wife onto her back. He'd had enough. He pinned her hands above her head, slipped inside her, and fucked her with wild abandon.

"Clark, baby, fuck me!"

He came inside her right as she screamed in climactic pleasure. His whole body shook as wild imagery of Sydney fooling around with another man danced through his head.

Clark stayed inside her - with Sydney's legs wrapped around him and her hands moving over his back - until he'd gone soft. When he pulled out, she rolled next to him and cuddled tightly. He put an arm around her and they remained like that until he felt sleepy.

"Will you see him again?" he asked.

"Next weekend. I'd like to have sex with him."

His eyes shot open, all traces of sleepiness gone. Sydney was smiling.

"I was just seeing if you were paying attention," she said. "We did set something up for next weekend, but I can cancel it, obviously, and while I will have sex with him if we keep seeing each other, it doesn't have to happen next weekend if you're not comfortable with it."

Clark closed his eyes and an image of his wife on top of another man suddenly filled his head. He was watching from above. He saw Sydney's dark hair falling over her shoulders and down her back. He saw the curve of her ass and the smooth skin of her back. He saw the other man's hands cup her breasts as she arched her back, tilted her head, and looked right up at Clark with a smile on her face.

Pleasure emanated from between his legs as Clark opened his eyes. He looked down to see Sydney's hand around his cock, to see her stroking him.

"Is that the hand you used tonight?"

She nuzzled his neck and moaned. "It is." Another moan escaped her lips. "He was so hard for me. He was so turned on. He wanted me so badly, Clark. You wouldn't believe how wet it made me."

"Did you want him?"

"I did. He's such a good kisser. It was so exciting to be out with him, too. To be on a date. To be flirting all night. To be touching. To know that we would probably go back to his place. To know that anything could happen once we did. I haven't felt that kind of thing in so long and it was so much more exciting than I imagined possible."

Sydney straddled him and took his cock inside her. Her pussy was creamy with his cum, but it felt so good. She rode him. They kissed. His balls tingled. He thought of her riding someone else's cock in just a week's time and he came inside her, his body shaking from the intensity of his orgasm. He was caught up in his climax, but it appeared as though Sydney had one of her own and it too was of the spectacular variety.

They shopped for lingerie and a new dress that week. Sydney spent hours getting ready for her date. She texted after midnight saying that she was going to spend the night at her boyfriend's house. Clark masturbated to the idea that his wife was having sex with someone else and that she was now calling him her boyfriend.

Sydney came home the next morning. She and Clark spent the next two hours in bed, fucking three times during that span, all while she slowly offered details of her night with her boyfriend, of the three times he'd fucked her, of the countless orgasms she'd had, of the pleasure she found in being desired in the very particular way a man desires a woman he'd just started seeing.

Their marriage changed, of course, but it strengthened in the process. Sydney no longer felt the ennui that comes with a long term marriage and Clark discovered an entirely new kind of pleasure that far surpassed any he'd ever experienced, leaving him determined to facilitate boyfriends, flings, and flirty partners for his wife for as long as she was willing to open herself to new men.