All Comments on 'In The Name of Science'

Kendra never got it, did she? I do wish that she'd had an honest discussion with her ex, or with anyone in the story about sex with her Doctor and the depression she must be suffering over being unable to enjoy sex without the drug. I'd also like to know what it was like for the Doctor sleeping with a woman who has gone cold turkey on her medication. What was she like in bed at that point?

I think it might be kinda like the stories where the wife cheats with the guy who has a really large package. After a while she can't enjoy sex with her partner because she's changed (physically and mentally), and she knows that its a result of her own actions. In this case, of course, she has changed psychologically but the result is somewhat the same.

I suppose she might be lonely at the end, wanting to get back with a guy she doesn't believe can give her good sex.

So you see, you could write a sequel from her point of view. Think about it. Please.

Superb. Seems you really took your time. The characters were believable. Great work

Thanks for this one. My only complaint is that he didn't get to screw the hospital, the testing Company, the pharmaceutical Company or any of the men involved in the study that fucked his wife. And I think he should have reminded Kendra when he handed her the divorce papers that he knew she felt he could never satisfy her sexually going forward. That fact alone would probably cut the heart out of 99% of all men. This story felt like real life. I was thrilled when he married the younger woman and had another kid. He's not too old at 46. Maybe one more for good measure.

Well played.

5 stars

Artfully crafted potboiler . I liked the passion that laptopwriter allowed Kendra to argue with in terms of getting her dubious agenda off the ground and into flight. The crash landing was inevitable, but though Kendra took an L . , she still has prospects for love and companionship as does any gainfully employed woman who's easy on the eyes.

I wouldn't say this is best of laptopwriter but the character development , dialogue and story pacing was exemplary by amateur standards. The author took a big idea in terms of the " greater good" via scientific advancement vs. the ripple effect of ruffled feelings and ethics triggered by research and made very palatable story. I thank laptopwriter for sharing.

But one that let you "hang" a lot of thought-provoking "meat" on. Unusual, but not unrealistic. Could I envision someone so caught up in their own conceptual world -- especially that so easily allowed a person to be blinded by unarguable altruism -- to such a high and selfless purpose and be oblivious to the carnage he/she was wreaking right in front of their eyes? Yes, of course. It happens every day. The first man on the moon was a good example. But how does it happen? Not all at once, but a day, a decision, a delusion, at a time. How? Why?

Incidentally, I like the hacker's role. I had the idea as that role unfolded that he'd report that she had gotten a placebo in the study! Ugh! Now that would make an interesting plot diversion.

Thanks for a well-written story.

Would it be selfish of me to ask that you write faster and publish more often?

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, LTW. Great characterizations, plotting and writing.

Nicely done.

I'm thinking that such an obtuse, delusional, intentional planned betrayal is more in need of a light BTB (on her and on the company conduction the trial, as in real life no company would use married subjects for something like this without expicit consent from each spouse just in case of bad PR if their experiment ruins marriages) than a standard consequences split. I mean this guy is a weakling, needing his sons, his girlfriend, and even his mother in law (sort of) to keep him from pussying out when he knew what had to be done on the first day of the story.

Not a surprise. I have always liked your stories. Think I’ll double check that I haven’t missed any.

Enjoyed the story tremendously. Interesting how the writer took an implausible situation and made it believable. It was all about Kendra’s arrogance and her importance and her lack of empathy for her husband.

Cool, a new Ltw story. 5*, I enjoyed reading it.

It makes me wonder, though... how did Kendra enjoy the sex with her new boyfriend, the neurologist, now that she was off the drug?

Did he get to taste the disappointment she had been saving for hubbie?

A tale well told of a gooder life choice. Wonder if Betty, will get it? Naaa, doesn't matter at all.

I think I'll make "gooder" a word now....

Thanks for sharing on Lit.

x

You know what? This is probably one of my favourite stories I've read on here for the last several years!

I loved that the husband tried his hardest to save his marriage, then stuck to his guns and moved on. As soon as Kendra signed up to fuck 38 guys, she effectively wiped her ass on their wedding vows, so him staying faithful to her would have been ridiculous.

Finding a hot younger woman to start dating while his wife behaved like a slut was absolutely the right thing to do. The ending was perfect, with superdad getting over his empty nest syndrome by starting another family. By the time his daughter and any other kids he had with Cheryl were old enough to leave home, he'd be surrounded by grandkids from his sons.

Great stuff, well done!

A day so bad in LW it hurts. Thank you.

That’s what this should be called. She was an idiot and he had sense to dump her ass.

Enjoyed it very much. As usual, good mechanics and storywriting style. This was an easy 5-stars.

Interesting about the drug becoming a “drug”. Reminds me of the “slut-whore” wife idea, and gangbangs with orgasm after orgasm. The idea that awesome sex can become addicting. Just a very neat way of approaching it.

Though I wonder why Darin didn’t bring up that fact with Kendra when the info was hacked for the second time from the study. It was a prime “I told you so” moment. Also, why no mention was made about not having a satisfactory sex life before hand. That that wasn’t going to be brought up? “If you didn’t like the sex with me before why didn’t you say so.” He was angry enough at her to rub her face in it, no?

I don’t have the literary chops to critique such well executed piece of wordsmanship. Believable real characters, all ultimately likable and human. Thanks. That truly was a treat to read.

Just a story,a unilateral decision to do something a partner really cannot agree to.Has something like this happened, could it happen?. i don't know but i have learnt that anything is possible and peoples actions defy logical thinking. Be it in a marriage or any committed relationship the feelings of a partner must be taken into account.We are individuals and do not own each other but we do own loyalty as part of a loving relationship. There are red lines that cannot be crossed and those lines will vary according to the sort of relationship a couple have. We should not have to seek approval for everything we do but as we come to know our partners we know those red lines. In short , she was away with the fairies, as nutty as a dundee cake. Good story.

wacky plotline of course, and weird that he does seem to buy into her transparently ridiculous "all for science" rationale but well written and paced, especially for a long story.

For an obvious reason. Complicated characters, interesting plot and unique motivations as always.

Enjoyable yarn.

Enjoyed it, but the author does not know much about research. If the study was legitimate, by a drug company, then they never would have used married women. That would have been excluded by the protocol, no IRB (who reviews all research) would allow it. Also, it is law that anyone in research can withdraw from research at any time. So you cannot sign a contract, only an informed consent form which she had to have. They would have used self-report of sex from home, not observing it in a lab. That is what they did with Viagra. Still, fun story.

. . . and you picked the worst one. Wife cheats, husband won’t forgive her, divorces her, and winds up with a younger model who’s better in bed, and the now ex wife realizes, too late, what a horrible mistake she made, wants to get her husband back, but he’s moved on. It’s not that the story direction is a bad one, but that it’s been so overdone in LW.

Even with the direction you picked, the story would have been better if the contract had been a real thing and everything Kendra said had been the truth. The study concept itself was strained — no way it would ever use married participants, not without both spouses signing hold harmless agreements — but you had to introduce Kendra lying about it as well. That just fell even more in line with the standard LW story. It’s not that the story was bad, but that it wasn’t really different.

In my opinion you should of chosen one of those other outcomes You were talking about? .....How come Darin didn't sue the Hospital for screwing up his marriage?.....Before any of you chastise Me for some bullshit clause!.....I remind You This is The US We are talking about!......With a good Lawyer He'd win hands down!

Anyway I Guess I enjoyed it★★★★ WOOF!

Thank you for a great life story, that's the reason I read these loving wife stories. And this one was very well done and an enjoyable read.

I felt the plot of the story was very meaningful too. Much was said in the story about the wife's feelings being a humanitarian. She forgot that you can be humane to one, not just to the whole of humanity. I felt he was much more humane in his treatment of her. But that wasn't necessarily for her benefit as much as his own.

Great story, thanks. 5's From me.

The ex wife was delusional. It would be interesting to hear from her perspective. I'm really curious to hear the conversation between Kendra and her mother after New Years and with her sons when she tells them the truth. Additionally if she informed the researchers she was married wouldn't they insure the husband was on board to prevent him from acting out violently?

You involve us in the characters very well. The story was just as long as it needed to be for us to get into each one.

Well done again.

Ah, there is no school like the old school!

LTW has always been one of the best of the best around here. I guess there are trolls who might call this effort "predictable", but for me, that is its absolute strength and not a problem.

May be ALL stories shouldn't be like this one, for varieties sake. But it is DAMN important to know that when a reader NEEDS this type of story, knowing one as finely crafted and complete as this one is, is easily available, it makes reading it a comfort and a privilege.

Thank you so much for a great story! So appreciated!

Well written and great characters make this a solid 5 star storyeffort.

Thank you for this very entertaining story.

Your main character is spineless moron, and I am not at all confused why she went of the rail.

I personally newer met anybody who would go with it for 3 months.

Serving her in a first week would be more likely.

However, I like your story.... if for no reason, then to see how other people's minds work.

‘Nuff said!

Best story all year. Extremely well written - a pleasure to read. My hat is off to you!!

Readers have to understand you cannot file suit in the world LTW created for this story. If a legitimate business can conduct a study where married women have sex with dozens of random guys, then it is a world where the husband has no recourse. It's pretty obvious. Big companies would have it all covered.

There were several things I liked. He was very reluctant to pull the trigger even after she shit all over him. He didn't sit around and whine while she was getting laid. He worried about having kids at his age, as he should. His relationship with his sons was a pleasure. My biggest quibble would be the thing about not divorcing before the holidays. I don't see that as a deterrent. There is a reason LTW is sitting near the top of the leader board. He writes good stories with complex characters. This story would been appropriate for the upcoming sharing is caring event. Well done!

As always for me, when I see a laptopwriter story, I immediately go for it, this one especially because I'm a professional biological scientist. Although a 5ver, I take issue with the premise of this story that this study was for science. It was for business. Let's make money with a pill for women's pleasure (and I have no problem with that). No reputable study would ever put a marriage in cross-hairs. Such a study would ask both partners (or the participant would lie about her/his marriage status). Too many social ills are ascribed to "for the good of science." Not enough social ills are ascribed, as this story, to the lack of business ethics. I do wonder what the other two potential options for the author would have been, perhaps a simultaneous study of male pleasure so both partners could participate?

Without a doubt your best work yet. Thank you for a great entertaining read. Mega kudos!!

Hi. Thanks for the submission.

Your writing style is solid, and the dialogue flowed well and wasn't stiff.

The idea of a medicinal drug being addictive is a real issue. A drug that makes people want to take it is problematic. We see that with opiods and others today. So that was an interesting story element.

Now for a bit of critique:

1. I'm unsure why people are saying this is novel. Other than the drug trial, this is quite boilerplate as someone else said. Wife cheats, husband divorces. He is saintly, she is a bit deluded/selfish. He finds younger, prettier new woman, has new family. She ends up alone. This is about as boilerplate for a light consequences tale as it gets.

2. The drug trial never really rose beyond being a plot point to being part of the story. Her experiences in the drug trial weren't affecting their interactions. She was offering no conversation about it. He wasn't asking questions.

2a. How long would the drug stay in her system, would it affect her sensations/behavior in non sexual moments? Were there side effects? A problem when coming down?

2b. When she started dating the doctor, it was an opening for some shenanigans about the drug, or the trial.

2c. She talked about the issue of intimacy in the trial, but showed no real wish for intimacy or discussed her problems after the fact.

2d. Why would any trial risk the huge possible publicity backlash by taking married volunteers without sign off by both spouses? A few crushed marriages during trials and the publicity would kill the drug.

3. They hacked the study. He told her. She'd probably go and let them know 'Hey, my husband got all this information about the trial', because a) She wouldn't want him knowing, b) Wasn't aware how he got it and if her information was secure, c) Would probably want them to know their info was getting out.

3a. If she had, how would they have reacted? Improving security? Closing down this trial group to avoid contaminating the trial (and risking FDA approval due to publicity or other issues). Kicking her out?

There is more, but I was a bit disappointed that the medical trial was used solely as a plot point and excuse for her to have sex outside the marriage, but wasn't really represented as more meaningful story elements, and brought into the daily life. You could have done a lot more with it, whether showing the turmoil she was feeling, showing the day to day affect of the drugs, having the trial not being on the up and up, having the trial on the up and up both other shenanigans ensuing.

Anyway, again thanks for the submission. Hope the feedback was useful

I disagree . Kendra was not a good person in the least.

She may have been in the past, but the Kendra in this story wasn't worth spitting on.

While I always enjoy the entertainment value of stories like this, if they really did a study like this, they would want couples involved together to see improvement and differences in their established sex life.

From how this is written, Kendra simply wanted to cuckold her husband and found what she thought was a good excuse to do it.

Your protagonist responded fairly well and Kendra's continued destruction of her marriage despite knowing he was getting laid elsewhere was extremely telling of how pathetic her love for her husband was.

Its refreshing to read quality stories here. They have been getting rare. Still some good writers posting but too many bad ones we have to sort through to find them. Keep 'em coming.

...my primary nit would be why he'd wait, despite the holidays. One lab fuck, or 38, he knew it was the lying, withholding notice, and disregard for his feelings that mattered, and those all occurred before Lab Day One. Yea, it makes the story line with Cheryl feasible, but after that long a marriage to be blind-sided so harshly, I don't see him waiting it out. First weekend, bring in family, serve papers, let her know consequences immediately. As nice as he was to preserve holidays, it was almost dishonest to let her continue to delude herself that nothing was permanently harmed.

Drug addicts are always chasing the high they got the first time they used. Kendra wasn't paid for her participation: she did it for the great sex. If she wasn't satisfied with Darrin before, he could never satisfy her without the drugs. Maybe no man could -Kendra may be frustrated until she gets her drugs.

They didn't have much of a marriage if she could decide to do this without talking to her husband. They didn't even consider sex when the study was suspended during the holidays. Darrin should have served her as soon as she did the study sex. Instead he entered a sexual relationship with a lonely woman. No matter what, someone was going to get hurt. The story was too drawn out.

LTW is a great writer. I thank him for his contributions over the years. 4 stars for this one.

reasonable man

They both had issues that neither dealt with, so each quietly moves on; ends up a dull, emotionless blob.

If there was a trial for medication, such as in this story. One would think the company would not only need contracts & consent forms from participants as well as possible spouses. But, would also welcome and actually need married couple as part of the trial; if nothing more than as a baseline. The company would otherwise be open for so many alienation of affection law suits that it would negate any possitives of the medication.

Great story otherwise.

Got exactly what she wanted. Someone different and seeing things her own way. He should send out christmas cards with them and the baby out.

Hi honey. I volunteered to be a total slut and be fucked by strangers for the next three months. its guaranteed to be the best most incredible sex of my life, that you will never be able to duplicate. I can't see that harming our relationship.

Instant divorce.

Definitely one of the better stories this site has posted in a long while.

Well thought-out, written and executed, with three-dimensional characters we can related to (well, most of them anyway...), and a very believable denouement.

That being said... Some of the actions taken by the MC here still puzzled me, a little bit. No, I'm not talking about all of his crying - sure, Darin definitely comes out of this looking like a very sensible man, but most of his tears were justified, given that he was watching his marriage died right before his eyes (him tearing up over his oldest not coming home for the summer, though?... At least, he acknowledged how stupid feeling this way was! But hey, he was in a bad place, at the time, so...) What was more troubling for me was his lack of certainty, when it came to end it with Kendra. I mean, I get that he was highly reluctant to throw away a two decades old relationship (even though he didn't do this out all - his wife did), but it came a point where him still being willing to gave her a chance to stop destroying their life made absolutely no sense. It was just as senseless for Darin to claimed to still love Kendra, during their first divorce talk, when she proved for the last three months how little she loved him. Which brings me to my biggest issue with this story: Darin so damn reasonable throughout the whole thing! The amount of civility he displayed toward his wife, when she made it very clear that his feelings was of no concerned to her was astounding. There's going to be some who won't see it this way, given that he barely acknowledged her throughout her sex trials, didn't sleep in their bed and am a FWB on the side, but let's face: in RL, a woman like Kendra would have been thrown out the door the very same night she would have brought the whole Beuticimiacin thing, which would have been a very justifiable reaction from her husband. The fact that Darin not only do so, but kept the status quo the whole time while hoping against hope that his wife would come to her senses... Man, I don't know about that! With the reports from the clinic, he had some many weapons to use against her, to destroy her with her own words, to give back to her tenfold all the hurt she threw at him... yet he did nothing! Him reacting this way... does that make him a better man that most of us - especially me - or does that make him a simp - which I don't think he is - who prefer to walk away from righteous confrontations? It's just something I wouldn't even advise to do, so, seeing it played out that way... that was the most surprising - and depressing! - thing about this story.

Other nitpicking things I feel compel to point out: Darin kept on one the most well-used tropes in LW by having absolutely no male friend to speak of - sure, Kendra probably was his best friend, but it's hard to believe that a solid guy like him doesn't have a group of buddies that would try to cheer him, most of the time, during his divorce. I walk away from this story with the distinct impression that Chad and Doug were indeed his best friends, which isn't really a bad thing - having your grown sons being your go-to buddies seems pretty awesome... but very hard to believe! Also, given that the overwhelming consensus by pretty much every character here was that Kendra was directly responsible for the end of her marriage, it's kinda bizarre no one took the time to strongly suggest to her to get therapy... No, it wouldn't have save her marriage to Darin, but it wouldn't be a bad thing for her to find out why she was so willing to risk it all over something that ultimately didn't require her contribution. Yes, I believe she was already out of love for her husband when the story begin, but a good therapist could actually help figure out why... In any case, I wouldn't have mind reading her sons telling Kendra she really needs some mental help - mentally stable individuals do not acted the way she did here.

onbothsides mentioned potential for a sequel, from Kendra's perspective. I'm down for that, especially if we get a scene of her learning of her ex knocking up his new wife... Finally, an actual comeback for all the hurt she gave him! Overall, though - a must read. ★★★★★

Great story.

The whole research concept and methodology is ridiculous, as others have pointed out in greater detail. And too many plot holes to count, but here are some.

One of the main investigations of such research is to determine side effects and unknown complications. That's why human subjects are almost always paid, and sometimes a lot. She's nurse. Even if she has no care for her marriage, she obviously thinks very highly of herself. So why would she risk her mental and physical health without legal protections?

The wife is an arrogant insensitive liar, but thinks she is doing something beneficial for medical science. So why didn't she just lie to her husband about the nature of the research? It could have been research regarding vaginal medications, cervical drugs, female hormone research. She could have given him any number of phony excuses why she was perfect for the research, why she had to be out of the house three nights a week for the study, and why she couldn't have penetrative sex, but could still suck his cock, every night, for three months. And what was the point of telling her mother the truth, other than to add more evidence of her disrespect and disregard for her husband and her marriage?

How could the subjects of the research, just having had the most amazing sex of their lives, be kept from making contact and continuing to fuck outside the research project? So many ways to hook up, share contact data, its inevitable. Never happened?

Why did he wait till the end of the fucking to serve her divorce papers? Hell, if he was serious about saving the marriage early in the story he might have done so if he had the balls to file for divorce after her first night of fucking. His concern seems disingenuous, especially after he starts fucking a younger more intelligent more attractive woman. Which made his subsequent moaning about the loss of his marriage even more puzzling and pathetic. God, I don't blame the wife for sampling other men.

There's more. But the most disturbing part of the story was the husband's whiny timid weak response to his wife's utter disdain. Maybe that's one of the reasons she volunteered, she wanted to experience sex with a real man. You tried to portray him as sensitive, but he came across as just weak. You tried to portray him as thoughtful and contemplative, but he came across as feckless, timid, and emotional to the point of being disabled. I would say you gave him more of a woman's character than a man's, but that would be insulting women.

I think you get my point. A really interesting and compelling plot, but so poorly and tediously executed that I found myself skimming over many parts of the story. Interestingly, the sections that were the easiest to skim were the sex scenes with Cheryl. Totally predictable and canned. His wife finds him a dud, while this younger more attractive exciting woman finds him a stud. What would have been much more erotic would have been the wife's POV during some of her sexual encounters during the research. Any maybe outside of the research? You really made the wife a bit of a mannequin. She didn't even seem to be that upset that her husband was fucking around for real, with a younger more attractive and very available woman. It appeared that the sex itself really didn't mean that much to her emotionally, and probably wouldn't going forward even in her marriage. I think she said as much.

So I applaud your great success with most readers, but I don't get it. Maybe in part its because most of the other LW stories today couldn't even break the 2 barrier. What a joke. Your story looks like pure genius in comparison.

Thanks for the effort.

That would have turned your story from the 5* it is to a 2* for me (not a 1* only because you're such a good writer).

Thanks.

Thanks for posting. I was surprised that, during the computer hack, they didn't obtain video of Kendra and several guys fucking (since she mentioned she had signed a video waiver). Then he could have seen her being very vocal and enthusiastic, swallowing cum, taking it in the ass, etc., things she hadn't done for her husband. That could have raised the angst. But good job.

The writing mechanics are easily a "5". LTW is a fine writer. But the plot? It beggars belief that any normal husband, when confronted with a wife's declaration that she plans to fuck 38 strangers for "science" (or any other reason) beginning the next day, would be such an indecisive pussy-boi (the fact that he is getting cut off for three months is just one more betrayal). Any even remotely normal man would immediately lay it on the line by telling her that if she begins this "trial" he will be gone, and she will be served with divorce papers alleging adultery as soon as an attorney can get the documents printed. That would be the only possible way to have even a remote chance to save the marriage. Even if she relented, it would be questionable whether the marriage could be saved. Instead we get the all too typical weak LW male who wonders if he can get her to stop and apologize so they can "get past it". Apart from the idiotic "clinical trial" excuse, this story is really not that much different from the LW "dating" story, in which the clueless husband comes home to find his wife coming down the stairs in her LBD and who tells him, when he asks where they are going out, that "they" aren't. Instead, she is going on a "date" because she had a conversation with her slut, divorced girlfriend, sister, or mother, or read an article, that made her aware that she hadn't had enough sexual variety, needed more experience, had reached 40 and needed to confirm she was still attractive to other men, etc. But, of course, it will only be sex; she loves only him; when she'd done she'll make it up to him and be "faithful" for the rest of their lives; it will improve their marriage, etc. Now imagine that the story is amped up by having her tell him that her plan is to go out and have sex with 38 strangers over several months, but only once with each so that no "feelings" develop, and that out of concern for her dear husband she won't have sex with him again until she tests clean for STDs after she's done. Do you really think that any psychologically healthy male would hem and haw for months wondering if he can fix things with his "wife". No matter how well written, a story like that would get a low score because the plot is ridiculous. Using the "clinical trial" idea instead of the usual "wife goes on a date" rationales makes the plotting even worse. Leave aside that she lied about the contract, a contract to have sex, especially adulterous sex, is unenforceable as against public policy. As someone also pointed out, no married woman would be accepted for such a trial because it would be unethical. There are other things wrong with the plotting. Ultimately, the quality of story depends on the plot, not the mechanics. This is a "1", and that's being generous.

Thanks for the great read. It is hard coming up with new stuff, but you did. Thanks. 5*

You picked the right way to go on this one. It moved along well for seven pages. Of course 5*!

Thanks for a great read.

Hooked

That's one cold hearted b1tch right there. Here, I've signed up to fck all these guys but just hang out for three months until I'm back. Hell no! I'd be out the door the next morning! Lol

I liked the story. It was emotionally gritty and felt more real because of it. I can feel the pull of over twenty years together and his hesitancy to walk away from the marriage.

However, I don't get staying with her for the 3 months of the trial. What was the point? She blindsided him with the study, telling him just before it began, so I understand he might not have been ready to take more action immediately. But 3 months? She's having sex with other men. She can have no sexual contact with him during that time. What insane person would put up with that? At least he fairly quickly moved out of the bedroom.

She also tells him she expected him to have a beer with his friends or masturbate. What a controlling bitch. Then she is upset he won't do as she tells him. The theme runs through the rest of the story, she didn't do anything wrong, he is being unreasonable. The skipping of the purchase of the repair shop is given as an example of his self sacrifice but the tone of the story hints that she is a very selfish person and always has been. His idyllic memories of their marriage are colored by his love but it seems like he is the giver and she is the taker in the marriage. This is not a criticism of the story, just an observation.

It was pretty funny that he drops into his young, sexy, widowed neighbor's house, says "Lets have sex!", and she says "Great". That's like winning the lottery without even buying a ticket.

His grieving after serving the divorce papers seems drawn out. I could understand it if he was alone but Cheryl was available to at least talk to. It seems mostly self flagellation to punish himself for ?????

In spite of my comments, this could be how a real situation might play out; with uncertainty, missteps, and emotional pain; in other words, messy. The important part is that he stands up for himself and isn't a door mat.

I rarely take the time to make a comment but except for the fact it took him 3 months to divorce the bitch it was a very good read.

Nice read with the ☕ thanks

You surpassed yourself, my friend. This was a great tale. There was one tidbit I really thought deserved notice, and that was Kendra's take on the price of Viagra. I have an elderly neighbor I take to the pharmacy, and that is ridiculous! There's a high demand, so they jack up the price. Insurance won't cover it, so people with ED have to pay out the ass, or just suffer. Ah, well. Great writing from you, as usual. Looking forward to an amazing Gothic Horror story from you in a few months. Randi.

nothing more than a whore maby for science but still just a whore

was when he went over to the widow's house, and simply asked her nicely. Normally we males hint, fiddle around, then finally make our move.

Never certain usually, until the kiss, or the touch is accepted.

Just asking outright, in a nice way works as I found out myself once many years ago.

I had talked to a lady several times, just as friends, one morning over Coffee I told her I found her attractive and would like to spend some private time with her.

She looked at me in surprise for a long time, everything between us up to that moment had been normal chatting. Not even any flirting.

Then she smiled and said, "OK."

It seems that women like sex also, and they look at a potential mate and wonder, just like we do.

Good story, interesting premise.

Thanks,

MGM

you are outstanding, but as a story goes this was very lacking. I applauded your idea of Darin's threat that he wouldn't be celibate for three months and went out and found someone right off the bat. You showed your first hold card when you made her younger, better looking and hungry for sex.

After her first after sex interview that should have been enough to tell him it was over between them. She takes one pill has the best sex of her life and can't wait for Wednesday. How does a drug that works that well that quickly wear off that fast?

Darin was afraid to give her the paperwork so he wouldn't disrupt the holidays so after her mom informed what see knew why didn't he server her on he 2nd of January instead of waiting until the 2nd of February, was he that bad off he just needed to see the end results to pull the plug?

I think your next story should be from Kendra's POV and you and HDK can get together and call it, 'You Didn't Have To Be So Nice'.

There is a lot of arguments I could raise to counter the nay sayers, but I’ll not waste the time. It is entirely conceivable that a professional would take Kendra’s attitude.

Stopping a person from doing something they are so committed to, by asserting dominance never works. She would have left him for that.

If there is a continuance it should be from Kendra’s point of view. I would like to read about how she came to the conclusion she should participate in the trials. Did she have the workplace “friend” to push her along? Did she have any guilt? And more.

In the end, Kendra is a selfish inconsiderate person that put something before her love and family. She proved that by lying and waiting until the last minute to even discuss the issues.

If I changed anything, I would have the husband sting her a little, okay a lot, more at their last meeting. When she asked about friends with benefits, I would have liked for him to ask her if she would continue to lie about the lack of pleasure she admitted to. I would want her to know I knew what she said in her exit interview.

That said, just by the passion which commenters express our views tells you that you have hit several nerves. Great job.

5*

One of the best writers as always, Lap - thoroughly enjoyed this one.

My only concern was the fact that if he saw a deep love in Cheryl's eyes that he never saw in Kendra's the entire time they were together, that makes this story even more sad than just a selfishly destroyed marriage. I guess you're never too old to find true love, even when you thought you had it before.

5 stars

As Greendelpuppy put in his story she could have fought the divorce on the grounds of 'Condonation' because by letting Kendra continue he was condoning what she was doing. (Way to GP)

Very well written, but the theme was just too preposterous. I can't imagine a husband allowing his wife to become a whore for three months.

It would have been fitting if she found out later she was one of the subjects who had the placebo. You know, to be a scientifically valid test, some of the group had to have been taking sugar pills. That would have fit the story line well.

Also, the story was just too drawn out. It could have been half as long and still covered everything.

great work. you really are a good author. total new approach to LW story. best story this month.

You started out by saying that you had 3 ways to finish your story. From my point of view you made the correct decision. I liked the way you developed each person’s thoughts and gave the reader insight into each belief. As usual - well done and thank you for sharing.

Another great one from one o f the real writers on this site. You make your stories and characters rock.

I get it. It's hard to imagine I'd put up with her announcement for longer than it took to catch my breath and say WTF! Maybe it would be different if you were living it and got blind sided.

Having read LIT, I suppose I'd be better prepared to say "have a nice life and adios" the moment she made her announcement. Fuck trying to talk her out of it or waiting to see if she actually did it. Even if she had asked permission, I'm done at that point. Moving on see you at the kid's weddings. I guess it's easy to talk tough when you aren't the one in the fight but I think that's what I'd do.

That said, the story is damn good entertainment and a page turner. Thanks!

The first big problem is that the characters and their actions and reactions aren't believable. People may cheat in the hope or belief that they won't get caught and thereby screw up their marriage, but no one throws this kind of cheating in the face of their husband and thinks that they can come back from it. That's a level of selfishness and obtuseness that doesn't just show up one day out of the blue, if it exists at all.

Second, the husband's reaction is all wrong. First he's not nearly angry enough. He's hurt and confused, but he would also be furious at being lied to. The reasons she gives him for doing the study are obvious bullshit, and he would call her on that. She's told him that the drug enhances sexual pleasure, and he should immediately be thinking that she thinks he's sexually inadequate, and he would call her on that. He would demand to know if getting a sexual thrill is worth their marriage, since what she's doing is crossing a major red line. Likewise, the "I've signed a contract" line is bullshit on its face, and he would call her on that. And if he's an honorable man he wouldn't just go out with someone else until after he'd filed for divorce, especially if that is what it took to convince her that he was serious.

Third the relationship with the new girl is too cute to be believed.

There are some alternative ways you could go with this. First, have her come to him ahead of time and ask if he wants to be in the study. That actually makes more sense than having a married woman in the study cheating on her husband, because the study would want a baseline married couple sexual experience to compare to the effects of the drug. Then you could go a couple of ways with that. Either the husband agrees, and they get addicted to the drug, or he doesn't and she does the study behind his back (shorten it to a week and have her visit a friend). Or have her go behind his back from the get go. If you want to keep her throwing it in his face, then you will have to come up with a compelling reason for her turning into a selfish obtuse idiot. And you would have to change his reaction. Instead of trying to make nice at Christmas, have him call a family dinner the day after she tells him of her plans, and in front of the kids and both sets of parents, serve her with the divorce papers, and when everyone asks why he wants a divorce, invite her to tell everyone the truth.

Difficult to come up with something new on Lit, and LTW has succeeded. He wrote the wife well - it isn't her fault.

Great story, my wife and I enjoyed it very much, always look forward to your new stories , always entertaining and enjoyable. thank you

Really hated to see this story end. Great job!!

Great stuff!

Original plot, masterful writing, fine dialogs - LTW, you outdid yourself! This deserves an immediate place in the hall of fame!

I would like to read the two other versions.

Perhaps one of these tells a little more from her side? In this one, Kendra was portrayed as incredibly dumb, insensible (really his partner for >20 years?), delusional and stubborn. Maybe, a bit from her POV might have helped, if not to understand, but at least to hear her reasonings.

Perhaps in one of the other approaches he will not act as weak as in this one, would not have him waiting three month after the marriage is already broken beyond repair by her unilateral decision and by blindsiding him.

Please, LTW, don't keep back your other ideas about this setup!

6* if it would be possible.

Kendra was a narcissist, but he didn't see it til she pulled this study nonsense. If I hadn't seen this in real life myself, I'd have my doubts. But this kind of narcissism is widespread. Especially among women. She never seemed like a selfish person, but her greatest priority was to be regarded by others as a good person. Not to actually BE a good person, but to be seen as one. So she did what she needed to do to be seen as a good wife, good mother, good nurse, good friend, etc.. I'm sure she actually thought of herself as a loving person in those roles. For the most part, her boys and her husband thought she was. But -- LTW shows us the cracks. The boys pick up on the fact that it would be just like their mother to decide that reconciliation was happening because she wanted it. Dad hadn't even been told yet. Why would his thoughts matter?! For a narcissist like Kendra, what she wants is really what is best for everyone. Because she just KNOWS what a good, loving person she is. She just wants what is best. And that just happens to be whatever she wants. We see it again in the way she handles his objections to her news about the study. He's shocked because she doesn't seem to care about his feelings. Guess what? Having his eyes opened this way, he'd finally be able to go back through their lives together and see other moments like it. Like the repair shop opportunity. It's always been this way. He was just too busy loving her and giving her the benefit of the doubt to see how it all added up.

Another big tell that LTW gives us -- her lies. Standard for a narcissist like this. She decided what was right. Any lies she has to tell to make it happen aren't really wrong. She needs to do the study. She wants to do it. For her, it's the right thing to do. That her husband or mother might disagree simply shows that they don't understand like she does. [A narcissist like her cannot imagine that there might be a different, yet legitimate moral perspective. Self-awareness and humility are not common in the narcissist.] The lies are just her loving way of making it easy for her husband to deal with what needs to be done. In her mind, she likely convinced herself that her lies were for his own good. In the same way she never told him the truth about their sex life. Sure she was withholding the truth, but it was for his benefit. It would never have occurred to her that she might be at fault for her dishonesty. After all, she knows in her heart what a good person she is.

And that's why, even til the end, she never really gets it.

Interesting thought.

I like the way the wife felt this was something she 'had to do for science' . Makes me think she was not a strong nurse and had non critical thinking as her major in collage. It is a wonder it took him this long to realize she did not like him much. I even wonder what the md's gave her for a nick name behind her back.

Very good engrossing read, our hero wasnt fooled even before the hacking. Though, he coulda thrown the knowledge gained there in her face some more.

One of the best I’ve read on here recently, and certainly one of your ur best overall. One of the things I enjoyed most was the fact that your story didn’t seem to force the plot. The story took the events and the characters in a direction that seemed real and conceivable. My only doubt would be that the sons where as supportive of the father as they were. However, in many stories the anger of the children is over done so perhaps the brings balance. Remembering the choice Darin had to make earlier in the marriage might have helped make the point sooner but I don’t believe Kendra was in a place to listen and understand until it was too late. All if the lies leading up to the reveal would have been enough for me.

She would have been served divorce papers as soon as she went to the first session.

I turned this story around a bit so I can relate to it better. Let's say I'm a mid-forties man who 5 years ago had some kind of illness that pretty much destroyed my ability to produce testosterone. Let's assume that the blue pill exists, but testosterone replacement doesn't. So I take the blue pills couple of times a week so I can be sexual with my wife, but it's mostly for emotional bonding as I cannot get too much joy from the physical aspect of the sex itself. And to give her pleasure.

I find out about a study where they are testing out these pills that replace testosterone, but want to test it out clinically so I can only have sex with "female lab partners" and cannot have sex with my wife for 3 months to test the efficacy of the medication.

Now I would go talk to my wife and tell her about this opportunity. Tell her this would give me the chance to once again feel that sexual desire, that sexual gratification, feel like a man again. Even though it may last only 3 months I really would like to get that feeling again because it's been such a missing in my life. Now she comes back no way that would be cheating etc.

Well, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I'm not saying I would necessarily do it, but I know if I don't do it I would be resentful towards my wife for not allowing me that opportunity to have something very important to a man. She could go two routes on it like the man in this story. He could have truly felt badly for his wife that in her whole life she had never been able to feel the immense physical pleasure of sexuality or he could have gone the route he did.

So to me in this story she did what she had to do. And he did what he had to do. Both were selfish in a way, but both did what was right for them. If I was born with low labido and always jealous of my friends describing how great sex felt and how wonderful it was, it is one of humanity's great experiences and to have never experienced it and I'm approaching old age and now have the opportunity to feel it, even if it's for a short period of time I may have to take it. And if my wife cannot live with that decision of mine it's understandable.

To me this story is no different than a couple who marry very young never discussing where they stood on children and in their late 20's she says she wants and NEEDS to have children. He knows absolutely he doesn't want children and she divorces him. Neither one is selfish or wrong or bad. Just sometimes you have to be true to yourself, and realize that the partnership you're in is no longer tenable.

Now if she had been able to feel physical pleasure of sexuality and this medicine just heightened the experience then it would have been very different for me. But in this story she says she has never been able to experience the physical aspect of sexuality and that is too much to give up in life and to never experience.

Having said all that she approached the whole thing wrong. She should have told her husband look I have this low labido or something physically wrong with me that I cannot experience the physical joys of sexuality. It's not you as I don't experience it masturbating nor have I experienced it with lovers before you. I have the opportunity with this study to experince it for the first time in my life. By the time this pill comes out commercially in 6 to 10 years from now I feel I will be too old and I really want to experience this for a period of time in my life. One should give others the opportunity to be generous with them, and often people surprise you. He may still not have gone for it, but at least this would have had a better chance at it.

It seems most relationship problems are that at some point one of the characters cannot see that their actions has an inevitable conclusion. And that goes for Darin, too, in his turn, blind to the effect his actions has on Cheryl until she had to hit him over the head with it. This was a beautifully crafted story and eminently satisfactory in its conclusion. 5 big ones and a round of applause in thanks from a happy reader.

. . . a writer can receive is "I'm sorry it had to end." I'm sorry this one had to end. You've quietly become one of my all-time favorite writers on here. Great story. 5*

"Even if she had asked permission, I'm done at that point."

I agree completely, and I also wonder if reading all these "Loving Wives" stories has hardened my view towards a failing marriage. If my wife told me that she'd just signed up for a trial to get fucked by 38 guys over 3 months, once the shock had worn off, we'd be done. Even if she changed her mind when I declared I was divorcing her, the marriage would still be destroyed at that point.

I mean... what does that say about your relationship if your wife even considered something like that to be a reasonable proposal? High class escorts fuck less guys than that in the same time period!

This is obviously an extreme example, but the same holds true for the comparatively tamer "I'm going out on a date, it's just sex..." cliche that crops up frequently. My response would be instant-divorce with zero chance of reconciliation. That's not because I'm being a hardass, but simply because a wife would have to view her husband with total contempt to think that he'd ever be okay with such a scenario. If there is so little respect left, why spend years trying to fix something so badly broken?

Yet another great read from one of the top writers on this site. Keep them coming.

love your work from character and story development to the epilogue i actually am disappointed when i do finish your stories since i want more! always looking for that next chapter, page... you are one of my favorite authors. more please!

"I believe somewhere down the line I took a back seat to your self-sacrifice for others."

"Darin, that's not true," she finally said.

She's honest about that part. She certainly wasn't doing it for altruism. I don't know why he was pretending as if that was the case.

Enjoyed this story very much. There are a few things that were glazed over like the study. He should have told her at the beginnig that if she took part the marriage was toast. If she went ahead have her served when she got home. Make her sleep in Chad’s room not him. If that didn’t get her to stop the next time she went tell her not to come home period. Have the locks changed her clothes packed and a restraining order in place when she returned. The most far fetched plot was his finding a much younger and beautiful woman who wanted too have sex with him right off. NEVER happen in reality much less marrying and starting a family before the ink is dry on the divorce decree. More was needed in Kendra’s relationship with the doctor. Was if going on before? Did she do 36 guys or one guy 36 times? Was the guy in the study the doctor? Lot of unanswered questions? Wish author would write a different ending taking on this idea that would have her cheating covered up by the study. Just a thought but did like the story overall 5* good job. As for the Anon’s a DetroitRockcity who think I like rec. stories and always root for the wife well not this time. To me it is respect not the sex that is important she gave her husband none.

I was happy to see you're still writing. Enjoyed your story, although it was not as good as I hoped. Preposterous as others said. He should have told Kendra their marriage was over when she told him what she planned to do. More should have been written about her reaction to his filing for divorce.

As someone else suggested, a follow up from Kendra's perspective might be interesting.

For over 7 pages, your excellent tale was woven to draw in the reader. Then, the point of credibility was crossed with the line:

“Especially since you are usually right.”

Every married man in the world, at that point, was reminded that this is a work of pure fiction!!

Full marks, well earned.

Thank you for sharing. It was maddening to see a character like Kendra be so arrogant and self-involved. It got to the point where she became a LW caricature of herself, comically unreal. As for Darin? I realize they had 21 years together, but her betrayal was so cold, calculating and absolute, it took him entirely too long to grow a spine and initiate the divorce.

Absolutely loved every bit of it!

I couldn't believe how thick Kendra's brain was over this study. I believe she was truly altruistic but wrong for the reason given. I can see one other ending to the story,. But not a third ending. First 5 star in a few months.

"That is the most disrespectful and insulting thing you've ever said to me."

I'm just thinking of you," I said defensively.

"Oh...you really think I'm so damn shallow that sex is all I'm after...so shallow that I'd ask a man I didn't love to be the father of my baby or trade him in for a younger model someday?"

When she put it that way, it did sound kind of bad."

Yeah, about as bad as her presuming he'd prefer to be a deadbeat dad about two minutes earlier. She made it sound like all she wanted was his sperm and then has the nerve to act offended at that response? I was liking the character up until that point

Also, his reaction is incredibly weak. If he was this spineless and ready to roll over, he'd still be married to Nurse Ratchet.

Still enjoying the tale but that exchange really took me out of the moment. My other critique is that the scientific study would actually be much more effective if the sex was with her husband. They like to control for other variables in a study, so they would prefer to keep as many things about the experiment the same as her usual experience so they know it's the medication making her enjoy the sex more and not the excitement of banging strangers or that her husband just isn't good at pleasing her.

Thanks for the story.

Cog

is at the heart of the whole plot, I can't see any likelihood of the so-called trial in real life, so for me it started out on a hard-to-credit premise, well this is fiction of course. Having said that the characters and plot worked nicely enough although the outcome was a bit predictable, another most perfect partner just waiting on the doorstep for this regular guy. Had its moments though.

The key moment was perhaps when she made those comments to the interviewer about not being able to enjoy sex with hubby again. Wouldn't she be able to nick some of the tablets to take while with him? Wouldn't the hospital authorities allow a special prescription for the participants in the trial? Questions like this makes it a bit silly for me.

That REALLY ruined this story. The entire premise was that the wife sued only medical people could understand how important this study is. Every time she said that the husband reacted.

But when she uses that same excuse on the kids he lets it slide?

Dumb.

As usual, another great read. Thanks. I always enjoy your work.

Have you considered a sequel giving us the STORY from the wife's perspective and also how she felt at the end about losing a really great Husband? Go for it!

The MC seemed all over the place.

The entire "I'm going to wait to date until my divorce is final" thing seemed incredibly inane. Taking a break until you've moved out, the wife understands that you're done, and to make sure Cheryl isn't going to get dragged into things? Sure, completely understandable, and probably a good idea.

However, the self-righteous "it just didn't feel right" having sex with another woman while he was still married is asinine when we're talking about a guy who's spent the last three months doing exactly that, especially when he felt free doing so at a time when he hadn't filed anything and was allegedly still considering reconciliation. I have difficulty understanding how the same person would make those two decisions.

Refusing to even talk to Cheryl for three months makes me feel like his happy ending was undeserved, and more realistically, he would have discovered her having reentered the dating pool by the time he got his head out of his ass.

More importantly, though, there was never any compelling reason given as to why he stuck out the full three months. Okay, the first week or so, I can get being stunned and shocked, but what was the point of torturing himself just so she could complete the study? Was there anything that she could have said in the exit interview that would have made everything better?

That made it hard to understand where the MC was coming from. It felt like he got hit by the Martian Wimp Ray just to make the story work.

@dragonmann72 - Re: Condonation

Er, what?

Condonation is a legal principle that says that if you forgive your spouse's adultery and have declared the intention to resume your married life with them, as shown by having sex with them at least once, that you can't take that back, and you can't claim adultery as the basis for divorce (or use the adultery to try to block an alimony claim).

How does that have any relevance to the situation where he *didn't* have sex with her after the adultery, and the divorce wasn't filed on the basis of adultery anyway?

Another outstanding story!

Boyd Percy

I really enjoyed this story. Really interesting premise and very well executed.