Scarsdale, NY: Saturday 25th April 2015
A sleepless night, the end of days?
It was six in the morning and I’d hardly slept a wink. The last ten hours had been probably the most difficult of my life. As I enjoyed the small pleasure of my morning coffee, I wondered how a man with so much education could have been so stupid. I’d known Brandon less than a week and I’d been stupid enough to leave my wife with him.
When I headed home, I’d expected him to keep me in the loop as things progressed between him and Sue. After all, that had been part of the arrangement. But what I got as the evening unfolded was virtually nothing. And that which I did receive was deeply worrying.
I’d left the club just after eight and arrived home about an hour later. All through the ride home, I’d been in agony, checking my phone every minute or so for some kind of communication from Sue or Brandon. I was desperate for some kind of contact. I willed the phone to life, but nothing came.
When I reached home, I poured myself a large drink and sat there just staring at my phone’s blank screen. I told myself that there would be some kind of communication, and it was just a question of how long I’d have to wait before it arrived. But it didn’t make the waiting any easier.
At about ten I decided to try Sue’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail, with Brandon’s phone the same. Now really worried and panicked, I tried messaging, but again no response.
I was all over the place. One moment nearly in tears. One moment angry mad and cursing Brandon, the next moment equally angry at myself for my stupidity. The next moment thinking of phoning the police, worried that something bad might be happening to Sue. I kept up these cycles of despair until eventually I finally received some form of communication a little after eleven.
But as I looked at the message, I was beginning to wish the phone had stayed blank. It was a message from Sue, and the words I read filled me with dread.
“Peter, I can’t believe what you’ve done. Brandon showed me your piece of paper. I can’t believe that you went behind my back and have given me to another man for the whole weekend without even saying anything to me. Is that all you think of me? Some piece of meat or property to be used in your sick fantasies? What happened to your promise to always have my back? To always be open and honest with me? I guess your sick fantasies mean more to you than me. How else can I interpret your actions?”
If I was panicked earlier, then as I forced myself to re-read Sue’s message I felt like my life was ending. I knew at the moment that I had been played. My head in my hands, I looked at the damned stupid piece of paper. How had I been duped into initialing it? In the bar on Thursday night, it had seemed so hot. But how would it look to Sue? Especially with Brandon there no doubt twisting things to paint me in the worst possible light. I read again the words that had put my marriage on life-support.
“Step 1: Take her for the weekend. I give her to you for the whole weekend, use and play with her as you want. Keep it our secret, more fun that way! Send her home well fucked late Sunday.”
I winced as I read it, even the language chosen by Brandon seemed so impersonal and designed to inflame Sue’s anger at me. How had I been so stupid as to put my initials on to this document? It had seemed so harmless when Brandon had shown it to me in the bar. But after all of the promises I’d made to Sue about being open and honest, I could see how incredibly upset she must have been when Brandon showed it to her, no doubt take the opportunity to drip other poison into her ear at the same time.
All of my earlier instincts about Brandon had been right. He’d suckered me. He’d used the weight of my own sick fantasies and desires to throw me into a position where he was in control, and now he had me just where he wanted me.
He and Sue were alone somewhere, and he was controlling and directing what Sue was seeing, spinning everything to make me look bad and him look like the good guy.
I felt utterly desolated, sick to the bottom of my stomach at my own stupidity. I tried calling, but Sue didn’t pick up. I called Brandon’s number, and finally, on about the tenth ring he picked up.
“Pete, it’s not a good idea to call. Sue’s pretty steamed and doesn’t want to talk to you right now.”
My blood boiling, I cut across him. “Look, you cunt. Put my wife on the phone, or I swear I’ll …”
“Hey, Pete. Calm down man, there’s no need for that kind of language. Like I say, it’s probably best you don’t talk to her at the moment. It’d probably just make her more riled up at you.”
“I don’t care what you fucking think, Brandon. Just put Sue on the damned phone.”
“Okay, man. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Then a long pause and my heart soared as I waited to hear Sue’s voice.
What I heard next chilled me to the bone. If Sue had been angry, or if Sue had been tearful, I could have maybe coped. But what I got was a million times worse. A voice devoid of emotion. Deadpan flat. As if I was dead to her.
“What do you want, Pete. Brandon told you that I didn’t want to speak to you. Don’t you get that? Or is this another decision that I don’t have a say in? I can’t choose who to talk to, just like I can’t choose who screws me?”
Hearing this last accusation cut me to the bone. It stunned me and made me realize the utter lack of respect and selfishness I’d shown. I was just about to offer my abject apology and admit how terrible I’d been, but I was too late. The phone went dead, as Sue cut the line. Desperate to reconnect with Sue, and somehow start the process of apology and healing, I hit re-dial, but the phone went straight to voice-mail again.
Over the next couple of hours, I must have tried their phones hundreds of times, until eventually just before two I gave up. And I only gave up because I received a chilling text from Sue that gave me no choice but to finish my efforts for the night.
“Stop ringing. Show some respect, for once. You know my feelings. Respect them. Or you’ll be responsible for the ending of what we have. Last warning.”
Sue can be the most loving person in the world, but when pushed too far it’s a frightening prospect. By my stupidity and persistence, I’d pushed her right to the very limit.
Feeling like my whole life was in tatters, I laid my phone down and headed to bed. I didn’t expect to get much sleep. But at least with my fingers away from my phone, my marriage might still have a slim chance of survival.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the clock inched closer to six-thirty, the early morning light started drifting into our family kitchen. I looked into the dregs of my coffee, seemingly a suitable parallel for my life. In my depressed and sleep deprived condition, I was confused as I saw the sweep of headlights through the window, before a car came to a stop in our drive.
Before I realized what was happening, I saw Sue exiting the car and striding towards our front door. My heart leaped with joy. She’d come home. It was all going to be okay. I got up to go and greet her but was too slow as I heard the sound of her key in the lock and the door opening.
I tried to compose myself and waited, my stomach turning somersaults as I anticipated what would be a painful and really difficult conversation.
Suddenly I was confused as instead I heard the sound of Sue’s heels ascending our wooden stairs and I raced out of the kitchen just in time to see my wife’s back disappear into our bedroom. I ran up the stairs two at a time and was horrified by the sight that greeted me.
Sue was sat on the bed unbuckling the straps on her favorite leather suitcase.
“You’re leaving me?”
She turned to look at me with an expression of pure hatred.
“Oh, there you are. I’m surprised you’ve got the nerve to show your face after what you did to me last night.”
“I’m so sorry, honey. I didn’t mean for it to go down like that.”
“Oh really. How did you mean for it to go down then?”
I was lost for words. There was no way to answer Sue’s question without making things worse.
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? You didn’t seem short of words when you wrote that disgusting piece of paper! What do you think I am, some piece of meat that you can use for your pleasure. Some toy for your amusement?”
“It wasn’t just me. Brandon’s in this as well.”
“Oh, and that makes it better does it?”
“Brandon’s using this to get to spend the night fucking you Sue, don’t you see that?”
“You’re on thin ice, mister. Brandon’s been nothing but a perfect gentleman. Unlike you, you piece of shit. For your information, he gave me his bed to sleep in last night and slept on the couch.”
Finally some good news. At least this human snake hadn’t slept with Sue.
Sue still hadn’t answered my question. “What are you doing, honey?”
“Don’t you ‘honey’ me. You’ve given up your right to call me honey. And, anyway, why should I tell you what I’m doing. After all, I thought you liked secrets!”
“Look, Sue. I know I’ve screwed up. I know I’ve been a fool. But please tell me you’re not leaving me, sweetheart. I couldn’t bear to live without you. You’re my life, Sue. You know that.”
For the first time, I saw something other than hatred and anger in Sue’s face, as for a split second she paused to think.
And then she looked up, the anger and hatred once again etched on her normally beautiful face.
“You’ve given up your right to know what I do and don’t do with my time. After all, according to your pathetic little note to Brandon, isn’t that what you wanted anyway. To give me to him.”
I felt like my world was coming to an end, my twenty years of happiness with Sue soon to be a distant memory as my life hurtled towards the edge of the cliff. I think Sue saw something of the panic and desperation in my face.
“You don’t deserve to know, but unlike you, I value and respect our marriage. So, no Pete, I’m not leaving you.”
She paused to let her words sink in, and must have seen the wave of relief roll across my body.
“I’m not leaving you, Pete. But I’m not coming home either,” she said, patting the top of the suitcase. “I’m going to spend a few days with a friend. I need to think, Pete. Think about what you’ve done. And what we’re doing.”
Her voice trailed off for a moment, as she turned away to look me straight in the eye.
“I’m going to my friend’s and we can talk on Friday. I want you to leave me in peace until then. Can you do that Pete? Can you show me at least that much respect? Have you got it in you?”
I knew I had little choice but to agree. I’d screwed up so badly, I could hardly blame Sue for wanting some time to think things through.
“Sure,” was all I could say, hanging my head in shame.
I don’t know if I was imagining it, but I thought I saw something resembling a hint of love or affection in Sue’s face as she looked at me. But if it was there at all, it was fleeting.
“Now, go downstairs. I don’t want to see that face of yours right now.”
I knew there was no point in arguing. If this was all I was going to see of Sue for the next week, then I didn’t want to lose even these last few minutes, but I knew I had no choice and had to do as she’d asked.
As I sat in the lounge waiting, the clock seemed to tick with a funereal pace and rhythm. Each movement, each second seemed to last an eternity. Until finally I heard the clicking of Sue’s heels on the stairs, and I looked up from my misery to see Sue standing there, still wearing the same sexy clothes as last night, but now covered with a warm coat to guard against the April morning.
She looked at me, her face an empty mask, void of either anger or affection.
“And remember, leave me in peace. I need to think. Show me by your actions that you understand and can respect me. Coz right now I’m not sure I believe you know the meaning.”
I felt my jaw drop at the harshness her rebuke. I said nothing. There was nothing to say.
“See you, Pete.”
Staying with friends
As Sue climbed into the dark SUV, I saw the driver lean over and kiss her on the cheek. Even in the morning half-light, it was clear to me the driver was Brandon. My heart sank. I’d hoped he wasn’t still involved in our lives. But he was still there, Sue’s ride to her friend’s house. The fact he was still there, no doubt whispering poison into Sue’s ear, filled me with dismay.
Momentarily I looked at my phone, before I remembered the look in Sue’s face as she told me to respect her wish for peace and quiet and some time to think.
As I saw the car disappear, I felt myself sinking into depression, wondering if I’d ever see Sue again. I told myself I was being overly dramatic. She’d said she’d see me on Friday, and I had to cling to that hope. Surely she wouldn’t throw away twenty years of love and a life built together on one single mistake, however stupid that mistake was.
I looked at the clock. It was just after seven and I wondered how I was going to fill the day. I couldn’t bear to sit there and just stew on my problems. That would be like the slow drip-drip of water torture. I toyed with my options for filling the day, not daring to dwell on the fact that this was only the first day of seven until Sue returned. If she returned.
What were my options? Read a book? Watch a movie or the TV? Go and see a friend? Long neglected domestic chores? Get drunk? The last two seemed the best, activity or oblivion being the best way to blot out the horror that was my new reality.
I poured myself a very large whiskey and downed half the glass with one gulp, and then I headed to the bookcase. I needed something to occupy my mind until the anesthetic of the alcohol started working. There it was, even in my despair the irony somehow cheering me as I came to the part of the shelf for Dostoevsky. It was a toss up which one I’d start re-reading before the whiskey dulled my pain.
‘Crime and Punishment’ certainly seemed appropriate. But then again, maybe ‘The Idiot’ would be a more fitting penance for the foolish man that looked back at me from the mirror. But finally, I picked up something that could have been custom-written for me. ‘Demons’ seemed a near-perfect description of the day and the week ahead of me. Even the presence of an arch-villain and an idealistic victim seemed a perfect match, as I started reading, hoping to find some escape from my real-world demons.
In a mood that mixed depression and melancholic despair, my soon empty glass was refilled with a large measure of Vodka and the merest dash of tonic. And gradually the alcohol started to do it’s work, dulling the pain as it dulled my brain. Sleepy from the booze and lack of sleep, I settled into a routine. Read a couple of pages. Lose the thread and look out the window in despair. Drink a measure too large. Start reading again. The pattern repeated again and again, only broken by the need to top-up the glass every few minutes. The more the pattern repeated, the sleepier I became, until finally, I felt my eyelids start to close with the weight of pain and alcohol.
But that wasn’t to be my release, because just as I was dropping off I heard my phone ping with an incoming message. A wave of adrenaline surged through my body as I reached for my phone, my drunk hand knocking both glass and phone. As I picked up the phone from the floor, I was relieved to see it was still working despite landing in a pool of Vodka.
I felt my anger returning as I saw the name ‘Brandon’ flashing on my phone. Fleetingly I thought of not opening his message, but I knew this was never really an option. My desperation for news, any news, was too deep-rooted to turn down any offer of information, even if it was from a man who I truly despised.
Retrieving the phone and wiping it down, I opened the message.
“Pete. Sorry. I hope one day you’ll forgive me, that you realize sometimes you have to tear something down before you can build your dream. If you want to see your dream starting to take shape, go to http://brucetheboss/684325 and enjoy.”
I’d thought I couldn’t hate this man any more than I already did. But the arrogance of his note, combined with the way he continued to use the depth of my addiction against me took my loathing of him to a new level.
I lasted all of two minutes before, with a heavy heart and a deep self-loathing, I fired up my computer and forced my drunken fingers to slowly type the address. At the third time of asking I got it right and was overcome by fear at what I might see. Remembering some of the things that Brandon had written on that first piece of paper.
As the screen flickered to life, I felt like my heart was breaking in two as I took in the scene before me. It was nothing that Brandon had written on his list, but to me, it seemed infinitely worse.
The screen showed Sue lying on a sofa, looking away from the camera as she snuggled up to the man who’d single-handedly wreaked havoc on my marriage. I felt like punching the screen, but instead, I sat dumb-struck as I helplessly took in this snake working his way deeper into my marriage.
His hands were wrapped around Sue’s tummy as she lay there resting her head on his chest, Brandon’s legs either side of her body. How many evening’s had Sue and I spent like this. Relaxing over a movie. Discussing family or work problems. And now he was sending me a signal. Sue had turned to him, not me, in her moment of need.
It wasn’t sex or some erotic act. It was emotional unfaithfulness, and it hurt a thousand times more than the simple physical act.
But like the addict, I was, whatever the pain, I couldn’t tear myself away.
“Sue, you may not want to hear it, but you might want to think about cutting Pete some slack. I’ve seen it before. His addiction’s so strong, maybe even out of control. That’s why he did what he did. I’ve seen it with other guys. Their craving is so strong, they do things they’d never do otherwise. It’s the equivalent of a crack addict selling his wedding band for another fix.”
I almost cried as I heard his words, his final example a scalpel designed to cause maximum damage to Sue’s love and respect for me.
“Maybe you’re right. Sometimes I wish we’d never started playing this game. Wish we’d never met Francis that night. Twenty-two years we had together, just a harmless fantasy, and then this.”
I saw Brandon flick the slightest of glances at the camera before continuing. “Maybe it was just a question of when. He’s been fighting this all his life. It was bound to come out some time. You might not want to hear it Sue, but maybe you need to look at it the other way. Maybe you were lucky to have had twenty-two years before the bubble burst and he lost control.”
I held my breath, desperate to hear Sue’s response, at the same time terrified of what these words might be.
“Maybe your right,” she said, with a resigned air. I breathed a sigh of relief. Her reaction could have been a lot worse. But I’d relaxed a little too soon because the sting was in the tail.
“Anyway, I’m fed up of talking about Pete. Just for a few hours, I want to forget about Pete, and all the pain and hurt he’s caused me, and his sick little problem.”
“Ummm, this is nice,” she said squirming and squeezing her body tighter into Brandon’s strong arms, her hands now on top of his as they lay possessively on top of her tummy.
Sue had now twisted her body round on the sofa so she now lay on her tummy on top of Brandon, their faces just inches apart. Given the position of the camera, this was the first time I’d seen Sue’s face since Brandon’s text. My heart sank as I saw the expression on her face. It was slightly muted by events, but it was still the same flush of excitement and desire I’d seen every time they’d spoken this week.
I knew this likely wouldn’t end well for me, and as Sue gazed into Brandon’s face I could barely bring myself to watch.
“You know I’ve wanted you since I first saw your photos when you replied to my ad,” she said, emotionally laying herself open and available to Brandon.
“I feel the same, Sue. Look, I know it’s early days, but I’ve not really had any serious relationships since my wife left me. At first, it was just too painful, but then I never seemed to find the right woman. But when I first saw you’re ad, it felt different from all the rest.”
I almost felt physically sick as I listened to this hogwash. I’d seen no sign of this the night Brandon and I had met in the bar. He’d not mentioned any of this, focusing just on the games we could play together with Sue. Surely Sue, an intelligent and educated woman, wouldn’t fall for this rubbish.
Sue said nothing, but her smile told me she was taking Brandon’s words at face value, as she reached out and gently stroked his cheek. I saw her head start to move and I closed my eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen. I kept them closed for several seconds, but when I finally opened them tears filled my eyes as the kiss I’d feared was still going on. Sue and Brandon’s lips were locked together, Sue’s hands stroking Brandon’s dark hair as they alternated between deep passionate kisses and small tender touches of each others’ lips.
It was Brandon who broke the kiss, looking into Sue’s beautiful green eyes. “Sue, are you sure you want to do this? It’s never a good idea to start something on the rebound. Why don’t we wait a few days, until you’ve had a chance to think things through a little.”
There was a hunger and a passion in Sue’s eyes that told me that Brandon’s views were going to be ignored, even if they had been genuine which I doubted. By playing hard to get he was deliberately throwing gasoline on the fire, making Sue’s desire even stronger.
“No, I want this. Pete’s had his little bit of fun, now it’s my turn. Screw my husband. This isn’t about him, Brandon. This is what I want, for myself,” she told him as she started getting up from the sofa and pulling Brandon with her.
Brandon was now standing and Sue wrapped him in her arms and gave him the faintest of kisses, before pulling back and looking deep into his eyes.
“I want to forget about everyone else and everything else. I just want us to focus on us, here and now, finally making love together.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, but just took Brandon by the hand and led him away from the camera and through a doorway.
For a split second the picture went black, but then a new picture from a different camera position burst into life. The picture it showed was Sue and Brandon next to a big bed, my wife easing Brandon down to sit on the edge.
Sue pulled her short skirt up so it was bunched around her waist and moved to sit astride Brandon’s lap, taking a moment to look directly into his handsome face before leaning forward and kissing him softly on the lips.
I felt like I was in hell as I watched things developing. This was a million miles away from how I’d envisioned things developing, and it was a million miles from how things had been with Francis. I felt like Sue was cheating on me for real, rather than this being some safe game to which I was a consenting party. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks as I saw my wife of twenty years willingly give herself to the man who’d tricked and manipulated me.
Before with Francis, it had been a bittersweet cocktail of pleasure and pain. But with this, there was only pain, as I watched my wife kiss another man totally outside of the bounds and vows of our marriage. The fact I’d driven her to this only made it worse,
I know it was only imagined, but it felt like my heart was shriveling and shrinking in my chest. I just wanted to roll up into a ball, cover my eyes and ears and pretend this wasn’t happening.
My howls of pain only got worse as through my tears I saw Sue briefly stop kissing Brandon so she could unbutton and shed her blouse, unclipping her front-fastening bra as she took his dark hands and placed them on her beautiful breasts. They just looked at each other as Brandon weighed them in his hands and then started gently toying with her sensitive nipples, rolling and tweaking them until Sue moaned and sighed with pleasure.
Hearing Sue panting and whimpering as his strong black hands started the sexual exploration of my wife cut me to the core. What hurt the most wasn’t the physical acts themselves, which I’d seen with Francis, it was the act of betrayal and Sue giving herself to someone else without my consent.
“Are you really sure about this, Sue? I don’t want us to build our relationship on a foundation of revenge and hurt.”
“I’m sure, Brandon. This isn’t about Pete, it’s about what I want,” she said as she started unbuttoning his shirt, and then pulling it over his head in one quick motion.
Sue seemed dumb-founded as her eyes took in the sight of Brandon’s smooth and well-muscled chest. The hunger she had for the man nine-years her junior was painful for me to watch, as she ran her hands up and down his masculine chest. She was like a child playing with a new toy, her cheeks flushed with excitement and her pupils wide with arousal.
I felt insanely jealous as I saw how she was using her nails to tease and tickle him, Brandon’s face screwed up from pleasure as his breathing got deeper and faster.
“Yeah, Sue baby, that feels good, carry on doing that,” he begged, as now her nails teased and played with his nipples.
Sue then pushed him back so he was now lying prone on the bed, my wife playfully holding his hands on the duvet as she smiled down on him, her breasts hanging just inches from his mouth. She was in a teasing mood as she stroked his face, her hanging boobs deliberately held just millimeters out of reach of Brandon’s mouth.
She kept this pose for some time, taunting and challenging Brandon to do something about this, and in the end, he gave in and played Sue’s game. He grabbed Sue’s arms and rolled her over so that he was now the one on top of Sue. For several minutes he was content to just play with her boobs, her face contorted with the pleasure this gave her, and then I saw a change in his face.
He moved down the bed and pulled Sue’s skirt and panties down so that she was now naked and available for whatever he now had in mind. With one athletic movement he jumped down of the bed, and with Sue’s hooded eyes following his every move, he quickly removed his own clothes.
And then he just stood there, like some kind of Greek god. Letting Sue admire his ripped body and the huge black cock that was standing erect and ready to complete the next step in his destruction of my marriage. Sue couldn’t take her eyes of this magnificent specimen of virile masculinity, and I realized yet again my utter stupidity.
With both of them now naked, she made the smallest of gestures, just lifting an upturned palm to invite him back to bed, but to me, it felt like a knife driven through the heart. As the bed sagged under Brandon’s tall, athletic frame, I saw Sue slowly spread her legs to allow a new man into her life. She was about to cheat on me for the first time. Francis had been my gift to her, for my own selfish gratification. This was Sue taking a lover, doing it totally for her own fulfillment and with no thought at all for my feelings or pain.
Their mouths locked again, as I saw Brandon take up position to enter Sue’s body. As he supported his weight above her, he kissed her softly. “Sue, forgive me, but this is special to me, so I’m going to ask one final time. Are you really sure you want to do this? You and Pete have been married so long. Do you really want to do this to him, to your marriage?”
There was an indescribable mixture of sadness and excitement in Sue’s voice as she looked up at her new man and answered. “Yes, Brandon, I’m sure. Pete needs to learn I’m not just some piece of meat, some toy. It’s a two-way street, and I have needs and desires. And Brandon, I want you. I want us. So yes, baby, I’m sure.”
And with that, all the talking was done. Sue reached up and took hold of Brandon’s huge cock and put it at the entrance to her body, giving Brandon an unmistakable signal. Giving Sue the most tender of kisses, he looked into her eyes as he started sliding himself into her body.
I felt my heart being rent in two as after twenty-two years together I watched Sue give herself and her heart to another man, accepting his manhood into her body as a replacement for my manhood. She lay absolutely still, just gazing up at her new man as he slid inch after inch of his thick black cock into her depths, until he was finally fully embedded in my wife.
When she felt the touch of Brandon’s pelvis next to hers, Sue gave a small smile and wrapped her legs around her lover’s back. She kissed him and looked into his eyes. “Come on lover, I’ve been waiting for this for what seems like forever. Take me and make me your woman.”
Watching what happened next was like having major surgery with an anesthetic. Every sight, every sound of pleasure felt like another nail being hammered into the coffin of my marriage. If my marriage ever survived this ordeal, I felt sure my cuckold fantasies would be vaporized by the trauma of this experience. This was no bittersweet game. This was having someone reach down your throat and pull your heart, beating and throbbing, out of your chest, leaving nothing but pain and a void where once happiness had been. Now just a fleeting memory.
On and on it went. The rhythmic pumping of another man’s buttocks between the pale and welcoming thighs that had been my home these last twenty years. Not something given away by me. Something snatched by a snake and eagerly offered by my wife. The glistening shaft a taunt, reminding me of how Sue’s body was lubricating the very death of my marriage. The simple physical reality of the female of the species making her body ready for the receipt of a superior male, better able to provide her with offspring. The arms locked around her new man. Arms that held me and comforted me through two decades. Arms that had cradled our child, now cradling the new man in her life.
On and on it went, like a never-ending torture, until finally, I sensed a quickening of Brandon’s hips as Sue pulled him closer and even deeper. I knew this part of my suffering was coming to an end, but still, I didn’t want to see or hear what I knew was about to happen.
But when I’d initialed that damn piece of paper, I’d given up all rights to control what Sue did or didn’t do with her body. And looking at my beautiful wife in the throes of passion, holding Brandon so close, I knew she wanted to be seeded by this man whom she’d lusted after so much this last week.
She knew nothing of how he’d tricked and manipulated me. To her, he was the knight in shining armor, who’d behaved honorably and honestly throughout. And so she gave herself totally to him in the climax of their first shared coupling. Giving him her mouth as they kissed deeply, giving him her body as she accepted his final deep thrust and received his DNA deep into her womb.
In that single moment, I felt utterly destroyed. Watching their love and mating had bit by bit crushed and destroyed me. Until there was nothing left. I watched them lay side-by-side, their bodies touching, kissing and smiling. Just being. There was no more pain I could give or feel. All of the emotion and capacity to feel had been systematically driven out of my body by the emotional water-boarding I’d just endured.
I sat slumped at my computer screen, seeing the picture, but no longer able to take in the scene or what it meant. I was a human definition of numb. An emotional zombie. Living, but not living.
And just when I thought I could feel no more pain, I had one final nail hammered into my traumatized soul. Sue’s eyes were closed as she seemed to be in a light rest, and Brandon slipped out of the bed, trying his best not to disturb her. En route to the bathroom, he paused right in front of the camera. With a quick check that Sue was still slumbering, he put his face right next to the camera.
“Hey, Pete. If you still think Sue’s coming home in seven days time, then you’re an even bigger fool than I took for you for. Sue and me have hardly got started yet.”
He paused, allowing me to take in the pure malice and evil in that face. A face my intuition had told me not to trust, and that I was now paying the highest of prices for ignoring.
With a malicious grin, my sadistic tormentor continued. “And just think, Pete, I haven’t even shown Sue the other piece of paper yet! With all the other sick shit she’ll think you planned for her, imagine what she’s going to think of you when I play that little card?”
“Okay, so now you’re getting it, Pete. You’re a smart guy. You know when it’s check. And you know when check becomes check-mate. So tomorrow, two p.m., meet me at the club we met at last time. I’ve got a proposition for you.”
“And, Pete. Don’t be late, man. Otherwise, your sweet little wife might get to do a bit more reading than you’re comfortable with, if you catch my drift.”
As I looked into those chilling blue eyes and almost demonically sculpted beard, I knew I had no choices, and almost beyond caring, I wondered what fresh horrors tomorrow’s meeting with Brandon would bring.
