Beneath the Beta
FOR 18 AND OVER ONLY
Contains graphic terminology, scenes, and elements of BDSM.
How far will a hapless groom go to regain his lost bride?
Gerry Byrne knows from experience that money can't buy you happiness. He's a multi-millionaire and his married life is a hot mess. His wife Kate can hardly bear to look at him, and his father and brother think he's impotent.
So, when his maverick sex counsellor suggests a series of activities that includes BDSM, Gerry thinks he's become even crazier – if possible.
Then Kate unexpectedly demands a divorce.
Kate's friends think Gerry is Hollywood prime Grade A hot. Kate thinks he's ... not. But when Gerry realises he lost his wife on their honeymoon ten years ago, he has to dig deep not only to find her again, but to discover what kind of man he really is.
Excerpt
'Now, this couple . . .’ Brian Carter, PhD, mid-sixties and registered practitioner at ReNuptials Clinical Institute of Harley Street, speaking to his colleague, gestured toward some buff files sitting on his cherry-oak desk. They were stacked in the left-hand corner, diagonally opposite his sole writing implements: a spiral notepad and a single gold-plated Parker pen.
The entire desk arrangement was a habit instilled him by his life-mate Bai, a feng shui consultant he’d met at the Olympia Home Exhibition. But on his busy days, he was more likely to reach for his MacBook tucked away in the left bottom drawer. A piece of Victoriana sat on the right, acting ostensibly as a paperweight, but mainly as another act of rebellion. It was a protest after Bai had virtually reconstructed their entire home into empty space. Carter hadn’t asked what it was when he bought it. Now he wondered, not for the first time, just what the hell it could be.
Inhaling the rich, illicit tobacco scent that had entered with his friend, he continued his observation. ‘Gerrald and Katharine Byrne. Married young, less than twelve weeks after meeting.’
‘Whoa there, tiger!’ McNamara’s eyes twinkled. ‘Pregnant?’
Carter shook his head, and his freshly-dyed curls rebelliously shifted into a new position. ‘Just crazy in love. The husband initially came to me alone. However, we managed to persuade the missus to accompany him on the fifth appointment.’
‘Oh, well done him. Needed your help, did he?’
From across the desk, Michael McNamara, Carter’s colleague, a big man who favoured tweeds in autumn colours, also looked at the paperweight. It was one of his favourite habits whenever he needed to unwind. One day, if anyone cared enough to unravel its mystery, someone would figure out what it was, and either toss it, or have it valued at Sotheby’s.
‘I wouldn’t dismiss him yet, Mac. There’s something a little brrr about him.’
With evident sincerity, Carter’s colleague dipped his chin. ‘I bow to your greater experience, sir. So, what’s the problem? Impotence for him, or frigidity for her?’
‘Neither. Apparently, he’s always raring to go. They’re still young enough, thirty-three. But for her it’s usually like once every public holiday.’
‘Well, that does sound a bit too kinky.’ Carter looked up at McNamara, and both men laughed together. ‘How long have they been married?’
‘Ten years.’ Carter moved the pen from the right side of his desk to the left, checked it was in line with his files, and then moved it back again. ‘Although it seems they barely made it past the honeymoon.’
‘Ten years?’ McNamara whistled softly. ‘That’s a hell of a lot of cold showers. What’s kept them going? An open marriage? One-night stands? Porn sites?’
‘Nothing for her, thanks. For him, he says mainly lots of hand-to-hand resuscitation and some of the more tasteful sites like Coupled.’
McNamara acknowledged with a nod the self-help site for married couples with difficulties. ‘Let me guess. He’s a Type B personality: low on stress, easy going. Not wanting to rock the boat?’
Carter looked thoughtful. ‘No, he seems different from the usual beta template. Don’t think I’d want to get on the wrong side of him during a full moon.’ McNamara laughed. Carter didn’t. ‘What’s very certain is that he’s bat-shit crazy about his wife. He’s adamant he won’t break his marriage vows, but he’s at his wits end. He says he’s willing to try almost anything to make their sex life fully functional again.’