It's time for a conversation with Brad....
I'mACuck,
Regarding Casino's comments:
casino said:
While I have little doubt that Sue has some feelings for Brad (who knows what they might be)....
You can assume your wife is in love with Brad. The trite conventional wisdom, "men fuck, women fall in love" seems partially true in her case. When she tells you she tells Brad "she loves him" (as described in one of your posts), that isn't a cynical lie. Almost certainly, she is telling him the truth.
That, however, doesn't mean your wife does not love you. Your threads strongly imply that she does. In fact, her love for you appears to have increased because you have given her the freedom, and encouraged her, to expand her sexual and romantic horizons. In other words, it is possible for a woman (your wife, in this case) to love more than one man, and she does.
casino said:
.... he [Brad] might be falling in love with Sue.
You can assume Brad is in love with your wife. This is why I said (above): " 'men fuck, women fall in love' seems partially true in her [your wife's] case." A more realistic version of this conventional wisdom would take ambiguity into account. E.g.: "Men who fuck, like the women they're fucking, often fall in love." Given that Brad and Sue plot to meet each other, think about each other often (lasciviously), and tell each other about their innermost longings (very likely) when they're in bed together, this can be interpreted as meaning Brad, as well as your wife, is in love.
That, however, does not mean Brad does not love his wife. He may very well continue to be in love with her as well, and have no intention of ending his marriage. The fact he does not know *you* are encouraging Sue to fuck *him*, while you (and Sue, you hope) have no intention of ending your marriage because of him, places him, however, in a position of ambiguity. It is enabling him to think (probably) that ending his marriage, in order to establish a close long-term relationship with your wife — possibly involving marrying her, after she leaves you — is a possibility. He may, in fact, view it as the most desirable outcome of his affair with your wife, depending on the nature of his relationship with his wife.
Regarding Casino's additional comment:
casino said:
.... If this is the case, and you inject yourself without Sue's consent, Brad could cut and run.
I really doubt it. More likely — much more likely, in my opinion — he would appreciate your clarifying the situation for him. It would mean he would no longer have to agonize over whether he should bring up with your wife the possibility of her leaving you (which would be awkward, at best), and he could stop agonizing over the prospect of having to tell his wife he is going to leave her (which would result in extreme bad feelings, alienation of his children, loss of wealth, having to pay child support, etc). He could, in other words, view his affair with your wife, in a much more straightforward way, as SEXUAL PLEASURE.
As for the possibility of Brad "cutting and running," why should he? He has a *very* good thing going, which — if you talk with him — will be even better.
It's time to talk with him.
Incidentally, a book that describes the experiences of women having one-man affairs like your wife is:
Heyn, Dalma. 1992. The Erotic Silence of the American Wife. Turtle Bay Books (Random House, New York), 304 pp.
Heyn presents the affairs of the women she interviewed and followed over time as having positive, generally-beneficial effects on their lives. You could probably find a "good-used" copy via (e.g.) Amazon.com. You and your wife might be interested in reading it.
—Custer