My Last Duchess

She'd sucked my cock on our first date and had taken it up her lovely, round ass on our third.

I'd thought I'd found the perfect woman.

Thereafter, slowly, subtly, she'd changed--or, rather, the true woman behind the makeup, the perfectly coiffed hair, and the admirable breast implants had begun to make her appearance. What I'd granted as favors and privileges became demands. She began to expect special treatment all the time. Opening doors for her and pulling her chair out at the table were the least of her expectations. She wanted wine and roses, chocolates and champagne, five-star hotels with room service, vacations at exclusive (and expensive!) resorts, a penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue, and a Lamborghini. Suddenly, my Rolls wasn't good enough for her! And when I suspected Amanda of having an affair with another man while I was having an affair with her--well, that was the last straw!

I'll admit, I complained about my uppity mistress. Who wouldn't? Hell, the fiery little vixen had become more difficult than my wife, and Sheila was high maintenance enough. My wife's constant demands are what had driven me to seek a mistress in the first place. I'd thought I'd hit the jackpot with the submissive, doting Amanda, but her supposed passivity had been just that--supposed.

It was my grumbling about the bitch that had led Henry Hammond to mention "My Last Duchess."

We'd just finished a round of golf and were drinking a few cocktails at the country club as the afternoon drew to a close, and Henry had chuckled as he'd remarked, "She deserves the same fate as that of the last duchess in Browning's poem."

Not being what one might call a fan of poetry, I'd replied, "Huh?"

"'My Last Duchess.' You've read the poem, of course?"

I hadn't even known we'd been talking about a poem until now. "Years ago," I'd lied.

Thaddeus had quoted the opening lines:

"That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.