A Cooling Encounter

The Beast had eaten. For now, he was silent.

I lay beside my wife, her warmth unfamiliar, her body foreign despite the ring she wore. My lover’s scent still clung to me, faint and musky. I hadn’t washed. Perhaps Sam sensed it—perhaps that’s what roused her. She turned to me, naked, eyes focused. Then came the unthinkable.

“Will you make love to me?”

What was that? Pity? Guilt? A test?

She climbed atop me without waiting for my reply, sliding herself over me like routine. No tenderness, no hesitation. She came quickly, then rolled off. “You can finish yourself,” she said. “I’ve got things to do.”

I kept going. I had to. My body begged for more. My soul recoiled. This was my wife—my once-sacred bride. Wasn’t this what I’d wanted all along?

Too little. Too late.

She’d done what she needed. I was an afterthought, a mop-up.

The Beast inside me stirred again, whispering of fairness, of balance. Why should she have hers and deny me mine?

I thought of my mother’s words. “No means no.” But what about yes, when it meant nothing?

I stayed the course. I took what I needed—not with violence, but with apathy. I became as cold as she was. It was easier that way.

Afterward, I wondered if she even remembered it. Or if she’d chalk it up to maintenance.

[from SEETHINGS, downloadable and free for a limited time].